END Rises: Natsu's Return
by TheNotoriousNovelist
Summary: Fairy Tail's still hurting after losing Natsu but a ray of hope comes when they find a wanted poster with a suspected arsonist on it matching Natsu. Team Natsu go to find this stranger but the reunion is far from happy when Natsu has no recollection of them! Or what happened to him... but there's a bigger issue at hand. How did Natsu come back and who are the guys chasing him? NaLi
1. Prologue: Shock

**Welcome to E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return, the sequel to E.N.D. Rises.**

 **Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing.**

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E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Prologue:

Shock

 _...July 7th, X792..._

* * *

Fairy Tail just wasn't as lively as it used to be. People went out for jobs, they completed those jobs, they received a reward and they returned to the guild. Also, Magnolia hadn't thrown any pointless parties since the funeral and that was their thing! Life wasn't the same for them without a certain pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Lisanna, wearing a black dress with Natsu's scarf tied around her shoulders, wiped clean a pint glass. Everyone was in but the guild hall was silent expect for the turn of book pages and a brush against canvas. Lucy was appalled by how people hated Natsu for being E.N.D. and so she was working on a book to explain _everything_ about Natsu's very long life.

"It's a... beautiful day out," Wendy said with Carla in her lap "Why don't we all go to the park or swim in the pool or-"

"NONE OF THAT WILL BRING NATSU BACK!" Romeo shouted at her.

Everyone looked up from their own misery and directed their attention at two of their youngest members. As Romeo breathed heavily through his teeth in rage, Happy came walking up to him. The blue Exceed pulled his trousers' leg and the young Fire Mage looked down at him.

"Natsu isn't coming back... and he would want us to live on..." Happy said, looking down sadly.

All was quiet until...

" _MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!_ "

There was a crash and Ichiya came through the ceiling, stirring up dust and smashing the floorboards. Ren then came down with the other Trimens through the hole made by their... leader. Everyone stared when Ichiya jumped up and struck his pose.

"Fairies! It is a sad thing to see you like this!" he bellowed "But rejoice to the smell of my par- _fume_ for my comrades and I have brought glorious news!"

"What kind of news?" Gray asked from where he lurked in the shadows with his (now official) girlfriend.

"The kind you'll want to sit down to hear," said Hibiki as he brought up Archive.

Those who had stood up sat back down and paid attention as the "pretty boy" expanded Archive's main screen for them to see. He whipped through multiple files before coming across what he was looking for.

"I found this in Archive's database and since then I've been running non-stop facial recognition scans to be sure," Hibiki explained "At first I couldn't believe it but now I'm positive,"

"Positive about what?" Lucy asked.

Hibiki opened the file to reveal a wanted poster for a suspected arsonist with a facial recognition scan of... no. Between the wanted poster's sketch and his picture blinked a caption that said "100% match" in red. Even just by staring at it they could tell it was him. It had to be. No one else had that fanged smirk of his. There was another crash and everyone looked back to see Lisanna had dropped a tray. Her eyes were wide and sorrowful and she fell to her knees with utter shock on her face. With a sigh, Hibiki said what they had all just realized...

"Natsu's... still alive,"

* * *

 **BOOM! But, let's face it... you can't kill Natsu and keep him dead. He's Natsu. He'll spring right back up and punch Hades in the face in the process.**

 **My favourite line in this chapter?**

 **" _MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!_ "**


	2. Chapter 1: Target

**Okay, concerning me demanding tears from you guys at the end of E.N.D. Rises... I WAS JOKING! You didn't have to tell me if you didn't cry or anything. It was just some writer-to-reader banter, jeez :)**

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E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 1:

Target

 _...A nation just south of Fiore..._

* * *

Why did they always have to follow him? Couldn't they give up already? Why was he so important to them? It had been three months since his escape from the facility he'd been trapped in but he wasn't sure how long he'd been around while there. What was his age? He didn't know... his stomach growled and he put his hand to it. He hadn't eaten for a while and there was a town nearby. He just hoped what had happened to the other towns and villages he'd been to didn't happen again.

"Well, hey there, stranger. What can I get for ya?" a kindly fruit seller asked, smiling his wrinkled old face.

He stared at him.

"Wh-What?" he asked.

"What would you like to eat? I've got fresh fruits and vegetables, all organic. I have apples and pears and oranges and some carrots and cucumbers and potatoes. Whatever you need and its yours," the fruit seller offered.

He leaned over to look at the fresh produce but made sure his hood stayed pulled over his head. The last thing he needed was someone drawing parallels between him and the sketch of the suspected arsonist. With a sigh, he stood back up with his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.

"Sorry, guy, but I don't have any money," he said but his stomach growled in protest.

"You must be hungry, laddy. Tell ya what, you come and have dinner with me and my family and you can help out around the farm for the day as paymemt," the fruit seller offered and stretched out his hand "Agreed?"

He warily held out his hand before gulping and shaking the old man's.

"Agreed but I gotta be out of town by tonight," he said and he hunched over as he followed the old man away.

* * *

They were... nice. The old man, his wife, their grown daughter and their daughter's husband, son and daughter. The man's wife happily made a meal for him and when they realized he was injured, their son-in-law insisted on checking him out since he was a doctor. The son-in-law treated his wounds and gave him an injection to prevent infection then re-bandaged him. The grandchildren were happy and were excited about their mysterious guest. He tried to leave when night fell but the wife insisted he stay in their barn for the night. Protests were pointless and he lay back on a pile of hay for the night.

"I mustn't sleep... they find me quicker when I sleep," he told himself as he stared at the ceiling "Why does... this feel familiar?" and he yawned.

 _"Papa, let's sleep in the barn tonight! C'mon, we can see bats and owls and hedgy-hogs!"_

He woke with a start and heard the sound of fire crackling. Not again... He jumped up and ran out of the barn to see the kind family's farmhouse set ablaze. The grandchildren stood with tears running down their faces as they stared into the flames.

"Mom? Daddy?" the little boy whimpered.

"Momma? Dada?" his little sister asked.

The sight of the flames triggered something within him and he looked around. Sure enough, one of the facility's goons was watching the blaze with a torch in-hand. His best bet and the safest for this town was if he ran away. Then they'd chase after him and leave the town alone.

"Project 001," that voice... not again "We are here to return you to the facility,"

He leaned back as if to run and be hissed through his strangely sharp teeth.

"No way in heck am I going back to that hell hole you call a research lab!" he yelled.

The surviving grandchildren watched the stranger as he turned and ran. At first the little boy was angry at him but the sight of the fire reflecting off of the stranger's tears changed his mind. Then the stranger mouthed something to them both...

" _I'm sorry..._ "

With that, he ran and the facility goons ran after him. How did they keep finding him? His only guess was a tracker planted inside of his body since he'd changed clothes every so often. However they were doing it, it seemed to falter when he was awake. He could even sneak right past them it became so general. But while he was asleep, it was deadly accurate. Deadly... for everyone around him.

* * *

That morning, he reached the next town. He would have steered clear but he needed to stock up on supplies real quick before putting more distance between himself and them. Everyone was talking about how there'd been another incident and how the suspect was seen there. They were angry that he was only wanted for questioning and not for the crimes themselves.

"That'll be 4000J please," said the shopkeeper "But I'll throw in a bag to carry that stuff in for another 500,"

He was just glad he pickpocketed some cash from a couple of shady looking guys when he entered town. He paid the 4500J and hung the bag over his shoulder before heading for the exit. Now he had a couple of weeks of food and water, he wouldn't have to go near any populated areas for a while. The high street was busy with people looking to buy things and people selling things to them. There were more people than he liked to be around so he looked at his compass for north and headed on his way. He didn't know why he was heading north. It just felt right as if it was a safe direction.

As he passed the town center, he saw a crowd of people gathered around for something. Curious, he stopped to hear what was happening. A shirtless guy stepped up on a crate and held out the wanted poster. That really made him freeze.

"If anyone sees this guy, please tell us before you inform the authorities and our guild will reward you 500'000J," the shirtless guy said "However, he may have ditched the disguise so please be on the look out for this person,"

A blonde wearing white-and-blue stepped up and showed a painting in a sketchbook of him. That was unnerving. How did they know his face? What's more, the picture featured him smiling in a way he was pretty sure he never had. Who were these guys? They didn't seem like facility goons. Maybe bounty-hunters? No, they were offering up 500'000J when his bounty was only 7000J. Either way, he didn't want to get caught and began to walk away when...

"There he is!"

He froze for a moment and looked back over his shoulder. Now he could see the whole group. There was a woman with red hair wearing armour, a young girl wearing a white-and-red dress and two cats, one white and one blue, who were standing on their hind legs. Any moment now, he could tell they'd try to get him but a good chase with these noobs could be beneficial. He smirked and their expressions changed to that as if they'd seen a ghost. In that instant, he made a break for it.

"Hey, wait! Nat-" the shirtless guy was interrupted by the person wanting the reward.

He ducked down an alleyway when he heard clinking metal and he looked up. There was the redhead in armour and she was pursuing him by rooftop. She moved her hands in a overhead arch and eight identical swords appeared around her. The redhead then sent them flying at him. He dodged each one with some quick foot maneuvers and he saw the exit of the alleyway up ahead. Once he was out, he could melt into the crowd. That was his plan, anyway, but he heard someone shout and people screamed.

" _Open, Gate of the Bull! Taurus!_ "

The ground shook and a giant humanoid cow blocked the exit. The blonde in white-and-blue hopped up onto the bull's shoulder and cheekily showed off a golden key. The redhead was behind him, a giant bull was in front of him and those other two were probably catching up too. Sure enough, Shirtless Guy and Little Girl came running up the alleyway except now Shirtless Guy was also pantsless and stood in his boxers. Why did he suddenly want to punch this Streaker Guy?

"Give it up, Natsu, we know it's you," said Streaker Guy.

"We just want to take you home," said Little Girl.

Natsu? Home? What were they talking about? With a flick of the wrist, a knife fell from his sleeve and into his palm but he kept it concealed. He put his free hand into his sweatshirt pocket and he cockily began to rock on his heels.

"Who, me?" he asked "Sorry, mate, but I don't know any 'Natsu',"

"Don't play dumb, Natsu! We've already got confirmation it's you," said the blonde one.

He looked back at her and scratched the back of his head under his hood.

"Sorry, Blondie, but your source must be mistaken. I don't know a 'Natsu'," he said.

The redhead chick came down from the rooftop and presented him with their sketch of him.

"Is this you?" she asked.

He pretended to act interested in the image before shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't know him," he said "Sorry, lady,"

"Just give it up, Natsu! We know it's you under there," said Streaker Guy and he flipped his hood back.

They all stared at him for a moment as if they weren't expecting to be right about this. He chuckled before a serious expression settled on his face. With a swipe from his right arm, he cut Streaker Guy's arm and caused him to stumble back bleeding. Taking advantage of the others' shocked looks, he ran at the blonde with the bull.

"Taurus, don't let him get away!" the blonde screamed.

The cow man reached out to block the alley exit but this left an opening and he skidded past. He easily got back to his feet and darted one way before melting into the crowd to backtrack without being seen. He saw the group run in the direction he'd led them to and he turned around to head the opposite way.

" _Ice-Make: Prison Cell!_ "

A cage made of ice suddenly fell over him and alerted his gullible pursuers to his true location. From atop the cage, Streaker Guy jumped down with his knife wound frozen over.

"Who the heck are you people?!" he shouted as he grabbed the bars.

"We're mages from a Fiore wizard guild called Fairy Tail," said Streaker Guy "My name's Gray, Gray Fullbuster. This is Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfillia, Wendy Marvell, Carla and Happy the Cat. We're here to retrieve an MIA member of our guild and that would be you, Natsu,"

He glared at them.

"Who the heck is Natsu?" he asked.

Lucy took a picture out of her pocket, unfolded it and passed it to him through the ice bars. He found himself shaking as he saw an image of him with these people dated in the year X784. That was seven years ago and yet they all still looked like teenagers and... how was he in this picture? He had no memory of being that old.

"You want to learn about your past?" Gray asked.

He nodded, his hands trembling.

"Then come back to Fairy Tail with us. That place is our home,"

That word again... _home_... did he really have a home?

* * *

 **Hope you enjoy the sequel as much as you enjoyed the original!**


	3. Chapter 2: Homecoming

**He-ey! Do any of you know a DaviantArt user who could do a killer cover for this story for me?**

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E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 2:

Homecoming

 _...A few days later..._

* * *

Lisanna had wanted to go find Natsu too but if it turned out to be a hoax then it would have broken her already fragile heart. Besides, she hadn't been able to Take-Over since the day he had died. It must have been the same thing that blocked Mirajane's full power during those two years she was "dead". The air in the guild hall was on edge as they waited for Team Natsu to come back with Natsu. It had already been three weeks since they left! Had they even tracked him down yet? As if on cue, the front doors were thrown open and their comrades came walking in with a figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

"We're back and we brought you guys a souvenir!" Gray declared in a very Natsu-like manner.

Everyone sat up in anticipation when Erza yanked back the mystery person's hood. Unkept pink hair came out with the stunned face of their deceased friend.

" _NAAAATSUUUUU!_ " they all cried and jumped him like they had when Lisanna returned.

Freaked out by the sudden rush of mages, Natsu jumped out of the way and somehow managed to land on a rafter. Everyone looked up at him in confusion as to how he got up there and the scared face he was pulling.

"Guys... What Zeref warned us about was true. Natsu has no memories beyond the past three months," Gray said.

"Not true! I have memories from before but I don't know how much..." Natsu said, irritated and he folded his arms.

"Natsu, come down here right now," Erza ordered.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her and sat back against the support beam.

"Uhh, I'd rather not since you look ready to kill," he said "You need counseling or something?"

Gray, Lucy and Wendy quickly managed to restrain the scarlet-haired woman from attacking him and Natsu just smirked. He stretched his arms above his head and scratched the back of his neck. For the first time, his overgrown hair was moved out of the way of his nape and that's when they saw it. Glowing violet on his skin... an enchantment.

"What's that on your neck, Natsu?" Romeo asked.

Natsu looked at him sideways before rubbing the back of his neck of anything. Nothing came off so he just shrugged. Catching a glimpse of the enchantment, Freed leapt up and dragged the pink-haired boy down. He then inspected Natsu's neck and got a good look at the enchantment placed onto his skin.

"This is a tracking enchantment. Whoever wrote it can track Natsu anywhere he goes. Tell me, Natsu, have you been followed by anybody?" Freed asked.

"Uh... goons from the facility I broke out of three months ago? They keep chasing me down and setting fire to any town or village I go to," Natsu said, crossing his arms as Freed looked over the enchantment "No wonder I couldn't find the tracker if it's on the back of my neck!"

He looked around and saw that Fairy Tail was shocked into silence.

"D-Did you say... you broke out of a facility?" Lucy stammered.

"Yeah," said Natsu "They gave me these,"

He lifted his sweatshirt to reveal he wasn't wearing a t-shirt or vest underneath and that his abdomen was covered in bandages that were a couple of days old. He undid the end of one and began unravelling it from his torso. Long lines of stitches and fresh pink scars were revealed as well as black bruises and red surgical gaws. Fairy Tail held their breaths at the sight of his injuries and Natsu lowered his shirt as if it was no big deal.

"There's another problem," said Freed "This enchantment... it can only be placed so deeply into a subject's skin by... well... by cutting it into their skin... and drawing it in their own blood. When did they do this to you?"

Natsu shrugged.

"I dunno. They did a lot of experiments on me before I managed to break out. Man, that was hard. I had to listen to hear new words and try to figure out how my body knew how to fight when I didn't and... yikes... don't even get me started on the actual escape. But let's just say, the things chewing gum can do for you are astounding," he said and hissed as Freed tried to alter the tracker "That and a heavy brick..."

A facility? Goons? Experiments? _Chewing gum?!_ What had happened to him since he was resurrected? Speaking of which, how was he resurrected? Only Zeref knew how to revive the dead but he was A) locked up, B) powerless and C) had promised not to. Someone out there had brought Natsu back to life to be used as a guinea pig for some sick experiments. It made the blood run cold just to think about it... Wendy stepped forward and lifted Natsu's sweatshirt above his stomach before placing her hands over him.

"Uhh... What the heck do you think you're going?" Natsu asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Don't worry. I'm the Sky Dragon Slayer so I have healing abilities. I'm just healing your internal wounds," Wendy explained "You can survive the cuts and bruises but you've got fractured ribs, a bruised kidney and severe tissue damage. Your heart is bruised too. If I were to guess, you suffered a minor heart attack,"

Natsu looked at her sideways.

"Is a heart attack when it feels like there's a piston going off in your chest non-stop?" he asked "Because I had one of those when they-"

He froze as the colour drained from his face. Terror filled his eyes and he threw himself off his chair. Natsu curled up on the floor and covered his head with his arms, sniveling. Lucy reached down to him but he cowered away.

"Natsu? What happened?" she asked, gently.

He shook his head.

"Never... never again..." he whimpered before throwing his head up to stare at them with tears running down his face "I'LL NEVER GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

Fire suddenly burst out around him but didn't burn the floor. Natsu shuffled backwards into a corner and curled up. The non-burning flames travelled in controlled lines along the floor until they were suddenly snuffed out. Everyone looked up to see Makarov standing on the railing of the second floor.

"Get your heads on straight, will ya? Take him to the infirmary, Porlyusica's waiting for him there. The rest of you, start making calls. I'm not convinced Zeref didn't know about this," he ordered "Got it?"

"Of course, Master," Erza stated, loyally.

Makarov nodded before disappearing back into the second floor. Carefully, they coaxed Natsu out and led him in the direction of the infirmary. They had to move on from the fact he was back and start thinking about how to help him. Poor kid... he could never just be laid to rest, could he?

* * *

Let's just say, Porlyusica was less than... enthusiastic... to be treating one that was resurrected. She grumbled to herself as she took out pastes, tonics, needles, pills and more. Natsu quietly sat on the edge of the bed with his sweatshirt off and his bandages unwrapped. He was silent after the memory of the facility had come up. He shook his head, he could never go back there for any reason... ever! Porlyusica approached him with a dark green slime on her fingertips that smelled like rotten fish guts and damp seaweed. The medicine woman applied it to his fresh pink scars and it stang at first before it soaked in.

"Apply this paste to your fresh scars every morning and night but not to open wounds, okay?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer "Good. Now for those cuts and bruises,"

She sprayed a disinfectant into his cuts and cleared them out with a cotton swab pinched between a pair of forceps. Porlyusica cleaned out the cuts before using minor medical tape to keep the cuts closed for him. For the bruises, she used a rose-sented cream that helped with cell replacement when applied to a bruised area. Then there were the stitches. They were sloppily done at best as an excessive amount of thread was used to ensure they were closed.

"You grubby little thing. You can't stay out of trouble, can you? Not even in death," Porlyusica grumbled as she undid the unnecessary stitching.

"Death?" Natsu asked "What do you mean?"

The rest of Team Natsu were struck with horror at the realization that he didn't know. Of course, since he didn't have any memories then he wouldn't remember his death but... how do you tell someone they were born 446 years ago, died, got resurrected, sealed away, revived, unsealed and then died again?

* * *

Natsu fell to his knees as he stared down at the gravestone... his gravestone. It was only seven months old yet it was already weathered down. He couldn't believe the story they'd given him. How he was born over 400 years ago, died at the age of 4 and was resurrected for the first time in the year X391. Apparently, he had a brother who was the one to resurrect him and had warned them that he may not remember. Natsu covered his eyes with his hand to prevent tears from falling but that didn't stop the sobbing.

"No wonder I don't remember anything... I died and now... who the heck am I?!" he cried and clawed at his hair in frustration.

His name may be Natsu Dragneel but he wasn't the same guy who was buried here. Not by a long shot. That guy... He was selfless and brave and willing to die for his friends. Now who was he?

"We had to dig up your grave to check and found your body had been removed. According to your brother, that means no lives were lost to resurrect you," Gray said.

"How is resurrection even possible?" Natsu asked, looking back with tears in his eyes.

"Using the R-System your brother invented, there are three ways to resurrect the dead," Lucy began to explain "The first way to resurrect the dead would cost billions of lives, the second would cost the life of a single being whose body would be recycled into that of the dead's and the third way... that's when the dead's original body was preserved and used in the same way as method two. So, since you're back and your body was missing, that means you're in the same body you've always been in,"

Natsu looked back at his gravestone and pushed himself to his feet. He clenched his fists and turned around to look at them.

"I want to remember! Is that possible?" he asked.

"You remembered all of your past lives just before you died last time so it should be possible," Erza said "Right! Our new mission is to help Natsu remember who he is or help him readjust to life!"

She determinedly pumped her fist into the air with a look in her eyes. The rest of Team Natsu all "yaah"d in agreement before looking back at him. Natsu found himself smiling genuinely for the first time and he nodded, rubbing away his tears with his hand. Immediately, they began chatting about how to remind him as they began the walk back to the guild hall but concern dwelled in Natsu's mind. The tracker enchantment on the back of his neck... how long would it take for the facility goons to follow it?

* * *

 **Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Trip down Memory Lane

**Sorry for not updating sooner but I was binge-watching Sword Art Online. It's a safe bet that whenever I disappear for a few days then I'm watching a new anime... or rewatching an old one... or watching random episodes of one...**

 **I've watched episodes 4 and 10 of SAO so many times that I've lost count.**

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E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 3:

A Trip down Memory Lane

* * *

"So... how do we jog Natsu's memories?" Romeo asked.

Everyone stared at Natsu as he sat back in a chair. He folded his arms with a bored expression on his face. Maybe he shouldn't have gone with Team Natsu when they came looking but at least he now knew where the tracker was and his name. As he stared past the pondering ring of mages around him, Natsu saw a _bea-uti-ful_ girl working behind the bar. She had creamy skin and short white hair pulled back into two pigtails and her eyes were a beautiful deep blue. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him as she kept her head down.

"Hey, Natsu? Natsu!" Gray shouted.

"Huh? Yeah, what?" he asked, turning to look at him.

"What do you want to try first?" the Ice-Make Wizard asked.

Natsu just blinked at him and looked away again. Everyone groaned at the realization he wasn't listening. At least that happened changed... following his gaze, a smile came to Lucy's face.

"Ah... I get it now..." she said "He's spotted Lisanna!"

At the mention of her name, Lisanna looked up but met eyes with Natsu. Tears began to fall at seeing him and she backed away from the counter. Crying, she ran out and disappeared behind a back door.

"What's her problem?" Natsu asked and he crossed his arms behind his head.

"That was Lisanna Strauss," Erza said "You and her were... uh... well..."

"You guys were involved," Gray came out with "Well, kinda. You were in love with her and when E.N.D. was unsealed, you revealed your feelings for her as him and you eventually captured and demonified her,"

Natsu looked down and gripped the seat of his chair. He still couldn't believe everything that had happened to him or that he was 446-years-old when he couldn't even remember how long he'd been resurrected for. They said he had a brother who was 449-years-old and was turning 450 in a few months. Natsu was surprised by the story about Zeref he got but he still wanted to meet him. But... Zeref was in a high-security magic-cancelling military prison that took strenuous circumstances to go visit.

"What's up with the scarf she was wearing? It seemed... I dunno... off?" Natsu asked.

"That was your scarf. You gave it to her when you died. She's been wearing it ever since," Mirajane said as she stepped up and she sighed "Your death really hurt her, Natsu. She still has trouble sleeping over it. Now that you're back, you better not do anything to hurt her again,"

He put his hands up in surrender when Romeo suddenly exclaimed and hit the side of his fist into his palm in an "ah-hah" moment.

"What is it, kid?" Macao asked.

"What if we take Natsu around town? Maybe familiar sights will jog his memory a bit?" the young Fire Mage suggested "And there's always the house he and Happy were squatting in,"

"Nice thinking, Romeo," Wakaba said.

"Sure, we could try that," Natsu agreed.

As much as he wanted to remember, he wanted to see that Lisanna girl again even more. She was definitely cute and to think they were in love once? He mentally patted his past life on the back for that.

* * *

Lisanna leaned against the well that stood behind the guild building and she sobbed, her tears falling in and splashing into the well water. The moment she looked into his eyes... there was no recognition, no emotion, no love. Natsu didn't remember what they were to each other anymore.

"Natsu... why don't you remember? Why does death make you forget? How can I help you remember our time together?" Lisanna whimpered and she fell to her knees.

She sat down and pulled her knees to her chest. Her shoulders shook as she let her tears fall and she covered her face with her hands. The smell of her scarf caught her nose and reminded her of Natsu... her Natsu, not the one that came back. Lisanna felt its thread count under her thumb and she buried her face into it.

"Lisanna?"

Mirajane knelt down beside her younger sister and pulled her into a tight hug. She knew it had to be hard to see her deceased first love alive again with no memory.

"Don't worry... Natsu will get his memories back," she said as she stroked her younger sister's hair.

"But... Zeref said he tried to remind Natsu of his first life during his second life but didn't jog anything," Lisanna wept.

"Natsu did end up remembering all of his lives, remember? So it must be possible," Mirajane said.

"But that was when he died!" her younger sister retorted.

The older sister shook her head and continued to let Lisanna cry on her shoulder. It really wasn't fair on her gentle heart for so much pain to plague her. Mirajane took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her sister's eyes.

"We're all going into town to show him the sights of some of his biggest memories. You should come. I'm sure being around you will help him remember," she said.

Lisanna steadily nodded and Mirajane took her hand to help her up. She patted down her black dress, straightened out her scarf and tucked her hair behind her ear. She put on a timid smile and Mirajane led her back into the guild hall.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Fairy Tail took Natsu around Magnolia to show him places significant to him in his past life but still, no memories resurfaced. As the afternoon became evening, they sat under the tree in the town square to rest their feet after walking around all day. Natsu leaned back against the tree with his arms behind his head and sighed.

"Well that was a colossal waste of time," he said "But the faces people pulled when they saw me alive were priceless!" and he laughed.

Lisanna sighed and looked away at a line of ants in the grass. He was so different now yet traits of his old self would randomly appear. As Zeref had said, the mind may change but the soul was the same. Natsu remained Natsu no matter the circumstances of his life.

"We should try to trigger an emotional memory. Something that stayed prominent in his mind... that defined who he is... or was," Lisanna said as she fiddled with a blade of grass.

"That's... actually a good idea," said Gray "Okay, so... What were defining moments in Natsu's life?"

"Dying for the first time,"

"Being resurrected for the first time,"

"Getting abandoned by Igneel,"

"Joining Fairy Tail,"

"Okay! I get it! My old life sucked," Natsu interrupted "But can we start with something more recent?"

Lisanna clutched a clump of grass in her hand when the perfect moment came to mind. She unclenched her hand and looked over at him with a tired expression.

"What about the little house we made for Happy when he was still an egg?" she suggested "Hatching Happy was definitely a milestone in his life and we-"

Lisanna promptly stopped talking and gazed away from them. The happy memory of being a little family with him and Happy made her long for the Natsu she fell in love with. But he was gone and she could only hope their love was soul deep. After other, less "good" ideas, they decided just to head for the house Lisanna and Natsu had built all those years ago.

* * *

Natsu and co. sat in the hut that was his and Lisanna's old clubhouse. He'd seen Lisanna's tombstone just outside and got an interesting and long-winded answer in return. After failing to remember anything, everyone sat in a ring around the house's interior.

"Look, you guys, as much as I want to remember being the guy you described..." Natsu paused "I've gotta leave soon,"

"Wh-What? Why?!" Happy asked, heartbreak visible in his big eyes.

They all looked at him for an answer and Natsu sighed. He fingered the tracker enchantment on the back of his neck before looking at them all with sad, haunted soot-black eyes.

"I can't stay in a town for more than 12 hours and I mustn't sleep, no matter what," he said "At nightfall, the goons from the facility attack and set fire to whatever town I'm in... and they seem to track me faster when I'm asleep so I assume I may have some kind of inhibition on the enchantment,"

They all sadly looked at him and Carla came walking over to him. She looked deep into his eyes when it struck like lightning. Her mind searched through to the most likely outcome and she reassuringly patted Natsu's knee.

"Don't worry, Natsu. My clairvoyance tells me that the facility men won't reach Magnolia for another month," Carla said, smiling.

Wendy looked worriedly at her Exceed partner as she could tell she was lying. Carla always curled her toes in and out when she lied. Was she lying about when the facility people would come for Natsu or that they would at all? The reason had to be a good one, though. Carla had a very strict rule against lying after the Edolis incident so what was provoking her now?

"For another month? Thanks, Li'l Kitty, I'll trust ya," Natsu said, stroking her white-furred head.

He sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back against his arms. It seemed all so familiar but he couldn't remember. It was like there was a blurred window between his conscious mind and his forgotten memories, he could see them but couldn't tell what they were. Happy sat down next to Natsu and looked up at him. Keeping a calm mind, the pink-haired boy stroked the blue Exceed's head and scratched behind his ears just how he liked it.

"Maybe we should focus on getting Natsu used to life here again?" Lucy suggested "And deal with this facility stuff first before really trying to awaken his memories,"

"Yeah, that'll probably be for the best," said Gray "Hey, Natsu, what can you tell us about this 'facility' you were trapped in?"

Natsu frowned as he went deep into thought.

"I'm not sure about it... it was my first memory, just being in that cold and dark cell but... I've always known there was something before that. I knew that that damp cell wasn't all. From the beginning, although I don't know when that was, I knew the feeling of warmth and the icy feel of terror..." he said and he hugged his knees "I think I was conscious before I was self-aware..."

"Oh? So... you were awake before you were sentient?" Gray asked.

"Do you remember any of it? Before your sentience kicked in?" Erza asked.

Natsu closed his eyes as he thought about it. If he consecrated really hard, he could remember but lost it the moment he stopped trying.

"It was... warm... I was floating... in something thicker than water but still... easy to move in... but I didn't have any strength... everything was... blurry and..." he groaned and held his head "Sorry, guys, I can't remember much more than that,"

Lisanna stared at him. She knew the feeling of what he was describing except her experience had been far more unpleasant.

"You're describing being in a revival pod," she said "You remember being resurrected. How long ago was this?"

Natsu scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know. I didn't have much of a sense of time at the start. By the time I was able to understand it, I couldn't tell how much time had passed. I know I broke out three months ago and had been in the facility for at last two months before that," he said.

Everyone turned to look at him. That was five months... he had died seven months ago... he'd been alive this whole time?! Was he even in the coffin the day they buried him? Feeling cramped in the child-sized house, everyone crawled out the archway and stood up to stretch. The Sun was beginning to sink beyond the horizon and the last golden rays of light lit Magnolia up with a beautiful glow. Lisanna smiled at the angelic scene when her eyes moved to Natsu. He seemed to be taking in the view too. Gulping, she approached him.

"H-Hello... Natsu," she stammered.

"Were we really in love?" he bluntly asked, taking her by surprise.

A blush pooled into her creamy cheeks.

"Uhh... y-yeah, we were," Lisanna stammered.

She looked at him and saw the contemplative look on his face. Natsu was thinking but about what? His hands were in his sweatshirt pockets and he sighed, looking downwards.

"I feel deja vu when I look at the town from here. We've watched the sunset from here before, haven't we?" he asked and she nodded "I wish I could remember. Sometimes, when something seems _really_ familiar, I feel like I could just reach out and grab the memory but... it's always just out of reach,"

"That... must be really frustrating," Lisanna said and she took a step closer to him "But don't worry because we'll help you remember,"

Natsu looked up at her with a sad smile and she returned it with a sweet, genuine one. He felt like he could just reach out and grab a memory of her from his subconscious but it was just beyond his fingertips. The Sun disappeared and night fell like a blanket of a million stars. He opened his mouth to say something to them all when there were screams from town. Natsu sniffed and smelled the ash. His blood ran cold and he turned back around to see flames burning into the sky at the center of town.

"Hey, Carla, was it? You said the facility goons wouldn't find me for a month," he said, sharp teeth gritted together.

They all turned to look at the white Exceed, who looked guiltily at the ground.

"I lied to keep Natsu from leaving Happy again... I couldn't actually figure out when they'd arrive," she whispered "Just that Natsu would leave and Happy would be heartbroken again..."

Natsu growled and ran back down the mountain path. Frantically, the others followed. Carla stayed behind and fell back to be sitting down. Wendy knelt behind her, hugging her and Happy sat in front of her, holding her paws. Tears began to run down her face and splashed onto the ground.

* * *

 **Let me ask you a question:**

 _ **Are you excited for Attack on Titan season 2 coming out 2016?**_

 **Please review with your answers. Okay, laters!**


	5. Chapter 4: Dragon Slayer

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 4:

Dragon Slayer

* * *

Fairy Tail could deal with the fires and he had to get away. If he left, the facility goons would follow him and leave Magnolia alone. For this reason, Natsu took a detour and ran through the forest. He heard the mages yell for him to come back but they needed to handle the fires first. So he ran like he always had, away from Magnolia and away from any trace of himself. He could still hear the fire crackling and tears sprang from his eyes. It was foolish of him to think he could be free of this life of running and hiding. Natsu wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt but stopped looking where he was going and tripped on a tree root. He tumbled downwards and came to a stop at the bottom of the dirt decline.

"Ow... that hurt," he said as he sat up.

"Did you hear that?"

That gruff voice... it was the voice of the facility goon that guarded his cell door... Natsu stayed down and cautiously peeked over the top. Two facility goons, one that was his guard, the other female and they were all in a forest at night. He slid his pocket knife out of his sleeve and flicked a blade out.

"Project 001 must be nearby. He never stays in the towns when we torch them," said the feminine goon.

They began to cross the path he'd been on and Natsu lashed out. He drove his knife into his former cell guard's leg before ripping it out and slashing at the female goon. Natsu caught her shoulder and she staggered back, holding it as she bled. He grabbed her by her facility uniform and kneed her in the chest. The woman dropped to the floor like a bag of rocks.

"Mildred!" the remaining goon exclaimed "Why you little- I'll kill you! I don't care what the boss says!"

The goon took out a handgun and began firing it. Natsu dodged as the bullets flew at him. Thankfully, the goon's poor aim and the darkness of night worked well to his advantage. Natsu kicked the gun out of his hand before slashing his arm. The goon fell to the ground and cradled his stab wounds.

"Don't be such a baby. It's not like I went deep enough to cause any fatal damage," he said and put his pocket knife away.

" _I heard gunshots this way_!"

Hearing even more goons coming, Natsu jumped back down the decline and continued to run away from Magnolia. If more facility goons were heading his way then they must have left Magnolia alone. He could only hope the fire hadn't caused too much damage.

* * *

Natsu began to pant but he had to keep going. He couldn't afford to stop. But things began to get blurry and he found himself curving to the left. Exhausted, he fell against a tree and collapsed to the ground. He hadn't slept in three days and he just ran for an hour without stopping. Woozily, Natsu coughed up his stomach contents and forced himself to his feet. After two steps, he collapsed onto the ground. Was it really going to end like this? Was he going to be recaptured and taken back to the facility to be experimented on? His old wounds opened up and he coughed up blood. He hadn't been caring for his body very well...

Natsu pushed himself up and held his right shoulder. It burned for some reason and the fabric of his sweatshirt was aggravating it even further. He ripped his right sleeve off and saw a Fairy Tail guild mark glowing brightly on his shoulder.

"What the... when did that happen?" he asked himself.

His right arm felt numb from the burning pain and Natsu dragged his feet to get even farther away from Magnolia. He was a sorry sight with tattered and dirty clothes, blood dripping from him, limping while clutching his shoulder. Natsu blindly stumbled into a clearing and collapsed.

"Look at you,"

That voice... no. Natsu turned his head and propped it up on his chin. Standing ahead of him was the director of the facility and about a-hundred goons standing behind him. How had he missed them?

"Bleeding, ill, malnourished and in an all-around sorry state. You obviously can't take care of yourself, Project 001," taunted the facility director.

"That's not my name!" Natsu yelled "I'm not some project!"

"Oh? Then what are you? Who are you?" he asked "You're not Natsu Dragneel, he died seven months ago and you... you're just his resurrected remains. You are nobody,"

Nobody... that was his worst fear... that he was nobody... did he truly have a past? Did he deserve a future? His name was Natsu Dragneel... but he wasn't _that_ Natsu Dragneel.

"What do you want from me? Why would you revive me at all?!" Natsu yelled.

"Simple... for your IMC," said the facility director "The only limit on your IMC is the physical strength of your body, a false lid. Without that, your power would be limitless and that's what we want. Having limitless power is one thing but the ability to contain it? That's another..."

The man grabbed Natsu by his pink hair and yanked his head up by it. He would have struggled but his entire body was numb. Exhaustion, malnutrition, illness and blood loss... not a good combo and yet it was what was afflicting him. Natsu groaned and warily looked up at the facility director.

"Burn Magnolia to the ground, they are the only ones who know this boy lives so they must perish. We can't have the rest of Fiore knowing you're alive, you see. So, Magnolia and its residents must die,"

"No! Leave them alone!" Natsu cried and pushed away from him.

He rolled backwards and weakly got to his feet. He panted as he felt all of his internal injuries came back too. It felt like his spine was cracking under his own weight and he fell back to the ground. The facility director approached him and kicked him in the ribs. There was an audible crack of bone and Natsu lay on his side, curled in on himself.

"Time to return to the facility, Project 001, you've done enough,"

Natsu weakly clenched his fist as tears of numb pain ran across his face to the ground. He could barely breathe and his entire body felt on fire.

"Fvghe," he murmured.

"What was that?" the facility director asked.

" _Fire..._ "

Red, yellow and orange flames burst out around him and forced the facility director to back off. The flames spread out from his curled-up form and forced the facility staff back as well. Natsu forced himself up and knelt back on his knees, his face turned to the sky. The flames danced around him... they were beautiful. His head lolled over to look at the facility staff and the fire burst out at them. They dodged his flames and began firing bullets but they melted in the fire before they could reach him. Natsu sighed with relief. He felt at home within the flames...

" _Naaaatsuuuuu_!"

He heard the Fairy Tail members yell as they searched through the forest for him. He looked towards the sounds of their shouts as fear for their safety consumed him. Natsu leapt forward, ignoring his injuries and he pounced on the facility director. He forced the man to the ground and tried to punch him in the face but missed as he felt a pain in his abdomen. Fairy Tail reached the clearing and yelled for him. Natsu looked down and saw the facility director's hand holding the hilt of a knife that's blade was stabbed into him.

"If you die, we'll just resurrect you. If your friends save you, we will capture you," the facility director said as he pushed Natsu off and got to his feet "Right then... _retreat_!"

The facility staff melted into the shadows as Fairy Tail ran to Natsu's side. His vision blurred as he looked up at the starry night sky and his heavy breathing drowned everyone out. He closed his eyes with a chuckle...

* * *

Groaning, Natsu woke-up in a hospital room and sat up. He had bandages wrapped around his torso, around his ankle, his right upper arm and left wrist not to mention his head. He put his arm over his face and fell back against the pillow. Had it really happened? Was all of that true? Natsu sat back up and looked around. The hospital room was beige with a dark blue tile flooring and white curtains were drawn back to let the sun in. It was a personal room so he wasn't sharing it with anybody.

"Ow... my head..." he groaned.

At that exact moment, members of Fairy Tail burst in and made a ruckus. Natsu groaned again and held his head. Suddenly, all of the noisy mages were silenced by Lisanna hitting them all on the heads. She calmly walked over to him and firmly sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked "We didn't realize just how bad a state you were in. You should have said something,"

"Eh... I'm more concerned about the facility goons. What happened to them?" Natsu asked, looking over at Gray and Erza.

"They escaped," Erza said "We were unable to track them down but you were bleeding out so that took priority,"

Natsu nodded in understanding and looked down at his right shoulder. Peeking out from the bandages was the Fairy Tail mark. He still had no idea how that got there. Carla jumped out of Wendy's arms and onto the hospital bed. She looked down with guilt and sadness on her face.

"I'm... sorry, Natsu, for lying to you," she apologized "When my clairvoyance couldn't see when the facility men would arrive... I lied. I just don't like it when Happy is upset..."

"It's okay, Carla, I just hope no one was hurt..." Natsu sighed, sitting back against his pillow.

"Nothing serious but still... a couple of people have some scrapes and bruises," said Gray, his hands in his trouser pockets.

Lisanna looked back and saw Natsu sigh with relief to hear this. It was true... he had remained the same kind, gentle and loving soul that he had always been, even if his mind was different than before. She looked down to see his hand resting at his side and she shyly took it.

"Don't worry, Natsu, Fairy Tail deals with stuff bigger than this all the time. We'll protect you," she assured him "But you were right, you can't stay in Magnolia so we'll need to move you somewhere where you're safe,"

It had to be perfect. A place where he could stay that was so tricky to enter that even if the facility goons tried to reach him, they wouldn't be able to. Somewhere that he was protected 24/7 but where... Everyone concentrated as they thought it through.

"I've got it!" Wendy suddenly cried out "Natsu can hide in Mt. Draco!"

"Why there?" Natsu asked.

A sly grin spread across their faces as they realized just how perfect that was.

"There's a reason Mt. Draco is more commonly known as Dragon Mountain and it ain't for some rock formations..." Gray said, grinning like the rest of them.

"I'm not going to like this... am I?" Natsu said and his face dropped.

How wrong he was...

* * *

At the peak of Mt. Draco was an enormous cave with a handful of entrances, some in the ceiling. Laying against the wall of the cavern was the ginormous form of the Fire Dragon: Igneel. Seeing as he had barely moved for the past few days, Grandina rose from where she rested and approached him. The Sky Dragon nudged him with her snout and scratched at him with her claws.

 _"Igneel, get up. You need to eat,"_ she said.

 _"Huff... leave me alone, Grandina,"_ Igneel growled back and lifted his head to look at her _"You don't know how this feels... losing your child..."_

 _"I know... I'm lucky Wendy was found and cared for after I abandoned her at such a young age... but we all grieve for Natsu. We all saw what you do 400 years ago when you decided to let him live,"_ Grandina said and she suddenly headbutted him _"Get up!"_

Igneel roared at her and got to his feet, barring his teeth.

 _"Leave me be, Grandina!"_ he furiously roared at her.

 _"Ssh... you'll wake Metalicana and we all know what he's like when he wakes up early..."_

Igneel let out a puff of smoke before turning to lay back down. Grandina mentally sighed when her dragon senses picked up the presence of another Sky Dragon except younger, smaller and more human. She smiled and stepped out of the massive cave the dragons had taken residency in. Coming up the mountain path only known to Dragon Slayers and their close comrades was Wendy with Fairy Tail members.

 _"Wendy!"_ Grandina exclaimed and she looked to see who was with her daughter _"Let's see... there's Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, Erza, Lucy, Pantherlily, Happy, Carla and..."_ she was shocked into silence _"No... that's not possible... how is... IGNEEL!"_

 _"Ahh, what now?"_ the Fire Dragon growled.

Getting no response from the stunned Sky Dragon, Igneel got to his feet and lazily poked his head outside. He acknowledged the Fairy Tail mages when his golden eyes laid their sights on the pink-haired boy with them that was radiating Fire Dragon Slayer magic.

 _"Na-Natsu?!"_

* * *

 **Igneel is a very proud dragon but... he did lose his son so he's going through some things... now this.**


	6. Chapter 5: Mt Draco

**Go check out my new story, Supernova Online, if you like Sword Art Online.**

 **And if you don't like SAO, you're stupid and if you haven't seen it, your lives are empty.**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 5:

Mt. Draco

* * *

Both Natsu and Igneel stared at each other. Natsu because he didn't remember anything about dragons and Igneel because... his dead son was alive before him. The Fire Dragon turned to look at the Fairy Tail wizards and let out a puff of smoke.

 _"What is the meaning of this?"_ he asked.

"We don't know, Igneel. Apparently, some kind of research facility resurrected him and had been doing experiments on him until he escaped," said Lisanna.

During the time the dragons returned and then, Igneel and Lisanna had grown quite close due to their connections to Natsu. He had taken one sniff of her and called her Natsu's "prospective mate" which was dragon-talk for "girlfriend". She still had no idea how he could tell by sniffing her.

" _He's_ right here, you know!" Natsu objected, indignantly.

"Anyway, Natsu needs a safe place to stay. Somewhere where the facility people can't get him even if they knew where he was. That's why we're here," Lisanna continued.

 _"I see... even if they knew Natsu was in Mt. Draco, they wouldn't come after him because this is where we dragons now nest,"_ Igneel said, lowering his head to their level _"That's quite ingenious... I assume Natsu didn't think of it?"_

"Actually, Wendy did," Lisanna said and pointed at the young bluenette.

Grandina instantly complimented her daughter for her brilliant idea and nuzzled her snout against her. Wendy hugged her mother back and smiled down at Carla, who happily observed her best friend interacting with her mother.

"Well, now that we're here. Will ya keep an eye on Natsu?" Gray asked, having grown tired of the small talk.

 _"Of course we will,"_ answered Grandina _"Those facility men would be fools to challenge us. After all, only Dragon Slayers can kill a dragon but there is one condition,"_

"And what's that?" Erza asked.

 _"We want the other Dragon Slayers to stay too. Weisslogia and Skiadrum are miserable, they're always talking about how they wish Sting and Rogue would visit them,"_ moaned Igneel _"This is why I told them not to manipulate their memories..."_

Gajeel grumbled something that could have been an "okay" but sounded more like "I was going to stay anyway because Levy was so she can undo that tracking enchantment" or something like that. Since he, Wendy and Natsu were already there, they just had to get Sting and Rogue to come. Unfortunately, the Twin Dragon Slayers weren't keen on reconciling with their respective foster fathers. They'd have to gain the help of the two people who could get them to do as they were told... Yukino and Minerva.

* * *

With their relationship now revealed, Sting happily teased Yukino with kisses on the cheek in the middle of the Sabertooth Guild Hall. She squeaked with laughter and exclaimed how it was undignified for a guild master to be acting so immature. He just laughed and proceeded to lift her up in his arms.

"EEK! Sting! I said, stop it!" Yukino squealed.

"No gonna happen, babe!" Sting said, smirking "I've wanted to shower you with love for ages and now I finally can!"

A blush pooled into her rosy cheeks and he took the opportunity to kiss her in front of everyone since he found her _so cute_ when she was embarrassed. Everyone else wow'd and whistled when Minerva stepped up to the table he was standing on. Sting released Yukino from the kiss and looked down at the guild's resident noblewoman.

"Something up, m'lady?" he asked, still holding his girlfriend in his arms.

"Erza, Gray and Lucy of Fairy Tail have come for a visit, Master Sting," Minerva said, her face solemn as she gazed over at Rogue who was sitting at the table.

"Haven't seen them for a while!" Sting said, grinning "A'right, let's see them!"

He put Yukino back down and jumped off the table before giving her a gentlemanly hand. He brushed himself off from the excitement of the previous moment and he took his girlfriend's hand in his. The Fairy Tail mages approached and were welcomed by Sabertooth with cheers.

"Sting! It's been a while," said Gray "How's everything with Sabertooth?"

"Good, everything's fine here. How about you guys? I can't imagine the pain you must be going through," Sting said.

"Yeah... about that..."

* * *

"NATSU'S ALIVE?!" pretty much all of Sabertooth yelled.

"Yes... and we need your help to hide him," said Erza, her hands on her hips "The facility men can't attack if he's in Mt. Draco surrounded by dragons but their only condition is if all the Dragon Slayers are present. Apparently, Weisslogia and Skiadrum are annoying Igneel by constantly whining to see you both,"

Rogue and Sting looked at each other before looking back at the Fairy Tail mages.

"So?" Rogue asked "They erased our memories and left us with the false burden of murdering our own fathers. Why should we see them?"

Minerva suddenly grabbed the Shadow Dragon Slayer by his ear and pulled him to his feet. Yukino did the same to Sting and dragged him to stand in front of the visiting wizards. The Twin Dragon Slayers looked back at their respective loves only to get the "you-better-do-this-or-you're-so-dead" look from them both.

"Natsu's gone through enough in his very long life so it's about time he get the chance to actually live a life out. If these facility goons are trying to take that from him, it's your duty as his fellow Dragon Slayer to _swallow your pride and play nice with your dragon daddies,"_ Minerva ordered.

Everyone ignored the fact she said "dragon daddies" and focused on the fact she was absolutely terrifying. Rogue and Sting frantically nodded before jumping to their feet.

"Okay... we'll do it. We might not forgive them but we'll stick around for Natsu's sake," said Sting and he turned to Yukino "Babe, you're in charge of the guild until my return. Don't let Orga sing while I'm gone,"

"Minerva, lend a helping hand to Yukino for me," Rogue requested.

The question as to why he hadn't used her proper title as a noblewoman arose and the Twin Dragon Slayers quickly made an exit to leave before his relationship status was brought into the light. Yukino waved Sting off while Minerva and Rogue shared an exchange of happy smirks between each other. Erza, Gray and Lucy ran after them to catch up and they all headed for Mt. Draco.

* * *

With a piece of long grass between his teeth, Natsu rested back against a boulder with his arms crossed behind his head and his ankles crossed on the floor. He looked around the cavern to see Gajeel and Levy talking to Metalicana while Wendy and Juvia chatted away with Grandina. He spat the chewed grass blade out of his mouth and he put his hand over his stomach as it growled.

"Da-ang... I'm starving," Natsu complained and he scratched the back of his neck "And how come I can _now_ feel the tracker on my neck?"

 _"It's just that you know about it now,"_ said Igneel, slumping down beside him _"So, your earliest memory is just before you regained sentience, correct?"_

"Yeah and?"

 _"Try to think before that,"_ said Igneel _"Maybe you'll uncover old memories,"_

Natsu sat up and crossed his legs before taking hold of his ankles, a sad look on his face.

"That's dangerous... I must never try to think from before," he said, ominously.

Everyone looked at him with concern at hearing this and Levy got to her feet. She sat on the bolder behind Natsu, moved his hair out of the way and began examining the tracker with a notebook and pen in hand. As she began deciphering, Lisanna walked over and sat on the ground next to Natsu. She took a deep sniff from her scarf before taking it off and offering it to him.

"Here," she said, quietly "This was yours from Igneel. You treasured it so maybe it'll give you a sense of familiarity,"

He cautiously took it from her and inspected the scarf with a curious and suspicious gaze. He carefully ran his fingertips over the material before looking up at her. Lisanna looked beautiful with her short white hair in pigtails and her deep blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight that shone through the hole in the ceiling. With a deep blush pooling into his cheeks, Natsu leaned over and tied the scarf around her again.

"It- uhh- it looks better... on you," he stammered.

 _"No need to be shy, Natsu, Lisanna's your prospective mate,"_ said Igneel with a chuckle.

"Ah- what does that even _mean?!"_ Natsu yelled with embarrassment.

He turned away to see Gray, Erza and Lucy were back with the Twin Dragon Slayers. He glared at the two as they stared at him in shock. Rogue and Sting stepped forward and Natsu jumped backwards into a defensive crouch with his knife sliding from his sleeve to his hand.

"Whoa, calm down! This is Sting and Rogue from the Sabertooth Guild, they're the other two Dragon Slayers," Erza explained "So put the knife away and-"

"No!"

The cry got everyone's attention as Natsu dropped his knife and clutched his head. Lisanna jumped to his side as he fell forward. He covered his head with his arms as if to hide. His shoulders shook as sobs were heard. Lisanna leaned over him and wrapped her arms around Natsu's slim frame in comfort.

"It's okay, Natsu," she whispered as she rubbed his shoulder "That knife was the first weapon you ever had while at the facility, wasn't it? You had no way of defending yourself before that. Now, you're afraid that if you drop your guard, they'll hurt you again,"

Natsu pushed himself up and covered his eyes with his sweatshirt sleeve. Lines of tears ran down his face and fell to the ground.

"I never got to see any light except for what came through the bars in my cell door... They only let me out when they wanted to perform an experiment... on me. The facility goons strapped me down on a cold steel table and the scientists... and the scientists! They'd loom over me with scalpels and sterilized dishes... and they... GAAH!"

Natsu screamed and fell back. Lisanna rested over him with her arms tightly wrapped around him.

"Yikes..." Sting said, his voice hushed out of shock "Natsu... he's... he's really messed up now, isn't he?"

"This is why we needed the dragons' protection. Now even if they can tell where he is, they can't attack..." Gray said.

They turned to see Natsu had fallen asleep in Lisanna's arms. He was pale with dark rings under his eyes. When did he last have a proper night's rest? He seemed calm now, asleep in her arms. Erza looked out the cave entrance to see the sun setting behind the horizon.

"Careful, Natsu said the facility men find him faster when he's asleep," she warned and Requiped a sword.

Lisanna looked from Erza to Natsu and smiled at the peaceful look on his face. His head rested on her shoulder and she gently began to stroke his pink hair to keep him calm. He really did seem like the old Natsu when he was like this.

"Don't worry... I'll protect you... for as long as you need," Lisanna gently whispered to him.

Natsu stirred and she leaned back against the rock behind them to settle until he woke-up. Erza stayed guarding the main cave entrance with the others taking any other way in. Sting looked at the sorry state Natsu was in before approaching the swordswoman. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"So... What are the chances of Natsu remembering anything?" he asked.

"Not good but we hope to ask Zeref as soon as we get permission from Crocus to visit him," Erza responded "Maybe seeing his brother again will jog some memories in him,"

Sting nodded.

"So... what's the plan for tomorrow?" he asked "You guys just going to sit in Mt. Draco forever?"

"We plan to stop the people that imprisoned him so that he can once again live his life," she answered "This time to its zenith,"

* * *

 **Sorry for the wait. I finished this chapter and forgot to publish it :3 oops. I hope it was worth it, though.**

 **Also, here's something I wanted to try! Ask me questions and I'll answer them at the beginning of the next chapter. Let's get to know each other a bit better, okay my readers?**


	7. Chapter 6: Brother

**Last chapter, I said you're stupid if you don't like SAO. If I offended anyone then I'm sorry. I didn't mean it! You guys should stop taking my silly comments so seriously...**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 6:

Brother

* * *

In the deepest corner of the Abyss Palace, a prison fortress was built with magic-cancelling runes carved into every wall. 50 meter thick walls of pure steel reinforced to the max. Guards were posted at every corner armed with the strongest magical weapons possible. In the center of this impenetrable fortress was a single cell with only one prisoner...

Zeref Dragneel.

His hair had grown to his shoulders and his body had shrivelled away to a skeletal form. But he was okay with it. After all the suffering he'd caused, this was all he deserved. The guard in charge of his food came walking up to the cell with a tray of cold soup, cold water and stail bread.

"Grub time," he said.

The guard opened the small hatch at the bottom of the doorless wall and pushed the food through. Zeref crawled over to it and weakly picked up the bread roll. He achingly took a bite and sorely swallowed.

"Is there... any news on my brother?" he asked.

"Fairy Tail is trying to get permission to see you. I don't know if that's to confirm or deny your brother's survival," the guard said.

"Okay... thank you,"

The guard walked away and Zeref desperately ate up the bread and soup. He only got fed once a day. He shivered as he gulped down the icy cold water and it spilled out of the corners of his mouth. Zeref wiped his mouth and lay back, staring at the ceiling. He'd spend the rest of his mortal life in this cell. He'd rot away and no one would notice or even care.

"Message for the prisoner,"

Zeref looked up. He rarely got messages from outside the prison. The messenger walked up to his cell and opened a scroll. Zeref sat up and looked at him with curious green eyes. The messenger cowered at seeing the world's once most powerful wizard.

"The Magic Council have given the mages of Fairy Tail permission to visit you, Zeref Dragneel,"

Zeref looked at him, stunned then looked down with a smile. Finally, he'd find out. Was his brother alive or dead?

* * *

Several hours passed and Zeref heard the sound of footsteps coming towards his cell. He rolled onto his side to see who was coming and saw Team Natsu from Fairy Tail coming his way. They came to a stop with solemn looks on their faces. Zeref sat up and they stepped apart from each other to reveal a person wearing a tattered sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. Erza yanked this person's hood down to reveal Natsu underneath it. Everything somehow became even quieter...

"This is your brother, Natsu," Lisanna said "Zeref Dragneel,"

Natsu stepped forward and sat down on the ground. The two brothers stared at one another with only the glass wall between them. Green eyes met black as they studied one another.

"You don't recognize me..." Zeref stated.

"No... I don't," Natsu said "but from what I've heard, you went through a bunch of crap to resurrect me the first time around,"

Lisanna sat down by him and put her hand over his, comfort washing over him. Zeref looked at his brother to see how he was doing. Pale, hollow cheeks, underweight, dark circles under his eyes and heavy bruising.

"Natsu... What happened to you?" Zeref asked in sadness.

"A bunch of crap," Natsu answered and he groaned.

"Time to check your wounds," Lisanna said.

Porlyusica had given the responsibility of his healthcare to her so she had been acting as a nurse in many ways. Natsu lifted his sweatshirt over his head to reveal the dirtied bandages wrapped around him. Lisanna opened the bag she carried with her and took out some blunt scissors. She cut the old bandages up his back and pulled them away, revealing the fresh wounds neatly stitched by Porlyusica.

Lisanna applied a cream to prevent infection to the wounds on his back before applying a cream to prevent inflammation. Natsu cringed under her touch and she gently blew on his wounds to cool them down. She then used another cream to treat his bruises.

"You've been through worse, Natsu," Zeref said, looking off into space.

"How'd I get past that?" Natsu asked as he cringed even more.

"You didn't... you had tuberculosis in your lungs. You spat up blood for a solid year before it took you..." his brother said "It was caused by infected cow's milk from our family farm's herd. After you died they all had to be destroyed. That financially ruined us and our family fell apart,"

"Yikes..." Natsu said as he turned around for Lisanna to treat the wounds on his front "Sounds like our lives are destined to suck,"

Zeref chuckled when he caught sight of the tracking enchantment on the back of his neck. As fresh bandages were wrapped around Natsu's abdomen, they explained all that had been going on. A dark cloud accumulated over Zeref and he got to his feet. The full extent of his pathetic body was shown when he weakly stepped forward and punched the glass with such force that it shook. He continued to seethe with rage despite his knuckles bent inwards, blood dripping from his hand and his fingers crossing over in unnatural ways.

"Zeref!" Natsu exclaimed, turning to the cell "Your hand! You need help,"

"No... it's fine. I don't deserve help. My hand will heal... eventually," Zeref said and he fell to the floor.

He crossed his legs with his hands on his knees and his back to them. Rage seemed to be building up in him when it was all suddenly released in one deep breath. Zeref lay down and let the blood from his hand pool around it. Natsu looked at him with sadness when anger gripped him. This was his brother and no matter the crime, he deserved medical care.

* * *

"You... WHAT?!"

It was after a long story on how Natsu was alive for the Fairy Tail mages to reach the reason they'd wanted an audience with the Magic Council. Natsu remained stoic with his fists at his sides and his friends backing him up.

"I don't care if he was once evil or whatever, no one deserves to be refused medical help. His hand's destroyed and he looks like he could break in two," he said.

"It's what he deserves!"

"ZEF DOESN'T DESERVE THIS!" Natsu yelled and suddenly covered his mouth "Where did that come from? Why'd I call him 'Zef' when his name's Zeref?"

They stared at him in shock when Lisanna suddenly embraced him.

" _Natsu_! You called him Zef for short in your past lives!" she exclaimed "It must still be in you!"

Witnessing this, Erza stepped forward with a new proposal. Zeref be released into Fairy Tail's custody to receive medical treatment and will pay for it by helping his brother. A sort of "probation" due to strenuous medical circumstances. Besides, that gave them time to figure out how to keep a prisoner healthy during incarceration.

The really weird thing? The Magic Council agreed to it...

* * *

 _...Magnolia Town..._

Makarov signed paper after paper after paper, completing the prisoner transfer. Fairy Tail stood outside their guild hall as townspeople gathered around the magicmobile with the Magic Council emblem on it. With all required documents signed, the guards opened the back of the truck and Zeref stepped into the sunlight. He squinted as he stepped down onto the ground below and looked around to see the terrified faces of the bystanders.

"The Magic Council will be watching. That's why you're going to be wearing this tracking lacrima on your ankle at all times," said the guard as he put the tracker around his ankle before unlocking his handcuffs "He's your problem now, Fairy Tail,"

They watched the guards leave first before going back inside. Having heard of his hand injury, Wendy fearlessly approached him and took off the gaws encasing his broken hand. She sighed with irritation before performing her healing magic. Zeref hissed in pain as his bones snapped back together and fell to his knees before the young Sky Dragon Slayer. When she was done, Wendy wrapped his hand from his wrist to his knuckles in bandages.

"I'm not that good at healing broken bones so it'll take a few weeks to heal fully," she said "But that's better than the months it otherwise would have been,"

Zeref sat down on a chair and held his wrist before smiling at her.

"Thank you, Wendy," he said, his voice low and scratchy "It already feels a hundred times better,"

"So, you've had your medical treatment and we'll feed you properly so you can regain strength so can you _now_ help Natsu?" Levy asked "Me and Freed haven't been able to crack the tracking enchantment on his neck,"

Zeref looked over to where Natsu was perched on the edge of a table like a monkey and got to his feet. He walked over to his brother and gestured for him to turn around. The moment he had a better look at the enchantment, his blood ran cold.

"How is... this possible?" Zeref stammered "These runes they're... they're..."

"They're what?" Gray asked.

"Mildian," he said in disbelief "This enchantment is written in Mildian, the ancient language of my and Natsu's birth country. It says 'The Hunter shall Stalk its Prey until the Prey sleeps where the Hunter may Kill it'. The wording makes for the weakness that it isn't as strong when you're awake, Natsu. From what I can tell, they don't even understand what they carved into you,"

"Any way to remove it?" Natsu asked, yawning.

"Three ways, actually," said Zeref "One, you dispel it like you have been trying. Two, you cut out the skin its carved into but that'll probably kill you. And three, the key words are hunter, stalk, prey and kill. By keeping Natsu in Mt. Draco at night, your preventing the second half 'the Prey sleeps where the Hunter may Kill it' since he can't be killed there but that's the problem..."

"What is?" Lucy asked.

"It can only be removed by the one who carved it if we let them kill Natsu," Zeref continued "And I promised not to resurrect anyone anymore so that's out... The best and safest bet is to dispel it. I know a bit about magic runes from my days as a Mildian Magic Academy student and I natively speak Mildian so I'll try to help,"

As Zeref, Levy and Freed began exchanging information, the ghost of the first guild master sat in the rafters. Mavis went unnoticed as she observed the former Black Wizard work alongside her guild. While cursed, you couldn't really guess his age but with it lifted, you could. He really looked like a 21-year-old young man now even if nothing had changed to his physical appearance from before. Those with the Contradictory Curse had no physical ages. Mavis just wished she could have found the weak link in her morality armour.

"So, Zeref, you know anything about magic that _isn't_ evil?" Gray asked "Because you'll need to fight if we run into the facility goons,"

"Actually, back at the Mildian Magic Academy I worked on many projects that resulted in the creation of modern magic and that includes Ice-Make, Mr. Fullbuster," Zeref responded "But now, I can only perform the magic I knew from before I was cursed. I haven't used it in centuries so I'm pretty rusty,"

"And what magic was that?" Wendy asked.

"A sub-category of Fire Magic," he responded as he corrected Levy and Freed's misinterpretations of Mildian "Combustion Magic,"

They all turned to look at him. Combustion Magic? Really? Even before Natsu was raised by a Fire Dragon, their family was already made-up of flame-brains.

* * *

 **Q &A Time:**

 **From** **Anonymous Person:** _I'm curious where did you get the idea for Mt. Draco? I thought it was very creative and seriously what a perfect hiding place. There are five dragons there right? That equates to it'll be suicidal to try to sneak into the place especially when the one being protected means so much to pretty much everyone present._

 _Ah, that also reminds me I've only watched the anime for Fairy Tail, if you've read the manga would you recommend reading it as well?_

 **Well, "Draco" means "dragon" and is also the name of the dragon constellation so I figured it would be a good name. I haven't read all of the manga, I just read the Tartaros Arc but it was good. If you want to read it, go ahead! It's pretty good in my opinion.**

 **From maalikdb:** _So I got a question. Why are your chapters a lot shorter and does this sequel get intense like the prequel did when [crud] goes down?_

 **My chapters are getting shorter? I try to do 2000 words but sometimes the perfect moment comes to end it. And sometimes that chapter has served its purpose. What can I say? That's how my writing rolls... And this will be getting intense relatively soon.**


	8. Chapter 7: Combustion

**Concerning the latest Fairy Tail manga chapters that I don't always read but stay updated about...**

 **I totally called it! Knew that's how Mavis died! BOOM!**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 7:

Combustion

* * *

When night fell, Fairy Tail opted to spend the night in Mt. Draco with Natsu rather than leave him alone. This included Zeref whom the dragons weren't sure about trusting since they'd witnessed his original reign of terror. Lanterns were put in alcoves in the cave wall and lit to light the place up with a warm glow. Natsu pulled off his sweatshirt out of pure irritation of it and began to yawn.

"We definitely need to get you some new clothes, Natsu," said Gray, picking up the tattered sweatshirt "This thing isn't even a piece of clothing anymore,"

"Yeah, well, I stole it off a washing line the morning after I escaped the facility," said Natsu.

"What does this facility want, anyway?" Zeref asked as he tried to dispel the tracking enchantment.

"Dunno... the facility director said something about having a limitless IMC, whatever that is and containing limitless power. I don't get it, myself," he answered.

Everyone froze and turned to look at him. Natsu looked up at them and tilted his head in confusion. He turned to look at Lisanna and saw she too was stunned.

"I see... no wonder they're so desperate to recapture you, little brother," said Zeref, breaking the silence "IMC stands for _internal magic container_ , it's what determines how much magic your body can hold and how long you can use it. They're normally expanded by the wizard learning to harness more magic power but yours is... different,"

Everyone stared at him and Natsu spun around to look at his brother with curious black eyes. Gray shook his head and stepped forward.

"Wait, Natsu actually has a limitless IMC? How?" he asked.

"When I resurrected him as E.N.D., I wanted to ensure he'd never die again so I artificially increased the size of his IMC through... inhumane means," Zeref continued "I was surprised to find that Natsu actually had an affinity for magic and his body easily absorbed the new amounts of energy. He then spent the next six years learning to harness that energy but he still wasn't strong enough so I..."

"You increased his IMC again, didn't you?" Erza asked and he nodded.

"I'd gone mad trying to push his IMC to its limits and in the end, I have no idea how I did it. E.N.D. normally didn't even blink when his IMC was being increased but this time, he screamed and withered in pain. I don't know what happened but you could say the lid was blown clean off his IMC, allowing him to absorb unimaginable amounts of power. It was only limited by his physical capabilities," Zeref finished "If this facility is after limitless power then they'll need a limitless container to hold it in... that's you, Natsu,"

He looked up to face his brother and saw Natsu's stunned face. The pink-haired boy leaned back against a boulder and stared at the ceiling. He clawed at the ground and gritted his teeth as tears began to run down his face.

"That's why... they were experimenting on me? To figure out how I have a limitless IMC? Just to store some magic power?" Natsu cried "That's not fair... it's not _fair!_ After everything I've been through over multiple lifetimes, can't I rest in peace or actually live out a life?"

"That's all I've ever wanted for you, Natsu, the chance to live your life," Zeref sighed.

Natsu looked down at the ground with sadness. Why was all of this happening to him? He couldn't remember a thing about his past lives and he feared trying to think back to them. His first memory was of looking at the mixed colours beyond the resurrection pod he was brought back to life in. Natsu didn't know why but he feared trying to think back to before his first memory.

* * *

Natsu remained awake in Mt. Draco as everyone else fell asleep. It was summer and a warm breeze blew in from the south. He wasn't forcing himself to stay awake like usual, he just couldn't fall asleep no matter how much he wanted to. Natsu rolled onto his side as tears began to run down his face. In the end, pain was all he really knew...

 _"HEEEEEELP! AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" a gag forced into his mouth, his wrists strapped down "MMMMMMMHHHHHHHH!" he kicked and his ankles were strapped down "GGGGGMMMMMMMHHHHHH! IIIIIIIIIIHHHHHH!" pain, unimaginable pain and he spat out the gag "HHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!"_

Natsu sat up in a cold sweat and his eyes wide with fear. He felt restrained and he staggered to his feet. He leaned against the entrance of Mt. Draco in a pant and put his hand to his abdomen. The bandages wrapped around him became nothing but restraints to him and he ripped them off in frustration.

"No more bindings... no more restraints... I want to be free... free of all of this..." Natsu said, tears running down his face as he fell to his knees.

"Me too..."

He turned around to see Zeref standing behind him. His older brother sat down beside him and they looked out at the Fiore landscape.

"Zeref... Zef... was my first life... happy?" Natsu nervously asked.

"I like to think so... you only lived four years but you were definitely lively. You were always running around and asking Mother and Father all sorts of questions but you never paid attention to the answer. You had so much energy," Zeref chuckled "But, you were born early so your immune system was compromised. You got sick and..."

"I died," Natsu filled in "So... What were Mother and Father like?"

"Mother was loving and kind but also intimidating. No one could insult us without getting a scolding from her. She was really pretty too. You get your pink hair from her," Zeref said, smiling "Father was a lot more childish. He'd drop anything for us but was also serious about providing for us. He was really strong too,"

"Wish I could remember them..." Natsu sighed "Well, I guess I should try to sleep while I can,"

Zeref nodded and his younger brother went back into the cave. He remained by the entrance as he drifted into the labyrinth of his mind. 449 years worth of memories kept him awake and most were of destruction and death. He was cursed at the age of 16 and the death part of the Contradictory Curse kicked in right away but his aging stopped when he was 21 and lost all affection for life. The reverse had occurred to a certain first guild master...

"I was never truly 21 nor 16 but now... I have finally grown into my biological age. Heh, Mavis lost her age when she was 13..." Zeref chuckled.

He sighed before falling asleep in the entrance.

* * *

While others were wrapped up in blankets, Natsu was just sprawled out on the floor, sleeping like the dead. An uneasy feeling crept up his spine like a shiver and stirred him awake. He pushed himself into a sitting position and blinked the sleep dust out of his eyes. Before he knew it, a hand clamped over Natsu's mouth with what felt like a gun pressed against his spine.

"Not a sound, Project 001, or you and your friends will pay," hissed a voice into his ear "Now, get moving,"

He rose to his feet and was directed towards the exit. Grandina and Igneel were sound asleep, Weisslogia and Skiadrum were in another cave and Metalicana straight-up wasn't in Mt. Draco at all. If only someone would wake-up and see what was happening. It was clever of the facility to pull back their army and only send in a single mercenary, though. Natsu looked about in the hopes someone would wake-up when they began to turn out of the entrance to head down the mountain.

" _Hey!_ "

A hand grabbed the mercenary's ankle and Natsu came out of their grip. He turned around to see Zeref awake and holding onto the mercenary's ankle with his injured hand. He had rage on his face as he looked up at the mercenary. It may have been centuries but he sure had to try...

" _Combustion: Instantaneous!_ "

The moment the words left his mouth, the mercenary fell back in pain as their ankle was blown out. Despite this, he pulled out a communication lacrima and spoke into it.

"Mission fail, repeat, mission fail! Dragons have been subdued, attack! I repeat, attack!"

Zeref put his hand on the back of the mercenary's head and picked up the communication lacrima in his other.

" _Combustion: Simultaneous!_ "

The frail lacrima exploded and the mercenary groaned as he was knocked unconscious. Blood seeped into Zeref's bandages as the force of disused Combustion Magic recoiled into his arms. Natsu went to his side and helped support him.

"Everyone, wake-up! They're coming and they've drugged the dragons!" Zeref yelled into the cave but no one stirred " _Combustion: Tremour!_ " and the cave shook.

"Zef, quit using Combustion Magic!" Natsu yelled.

"What is it?!" Erza yelled in irritation.

"The facility goons have come! And they've somehow poisoned the dragons. We've got to leave and now!" Zeref yelled before collapsing.

Natsu pulled his unconscious older brother onto his back and the group of Fairy Tail mages ran to the back of the caves to leave the other side of the mountain.

* * *

The facility goons had all of the entrances and exits covered and a sword was brought down on them the moment they got outside. Erza Requipped into her Black Wing Armour and counterattacked. With difficulty, Wendy healed Zeref of his fatigue while they ran and he came to. Natsu proceeded to drop him and he began running on his own two feet. His friends broke apart from them as they were pounced upon by facility goons until it was only the Dragneel brothers and Lisanna left. They ran into the forest at the bottom of the mountain.

"Hello, Project 001. Oh and I see you've reunited with your brother. It's a pleasure to meet the man who created an unlimited internal magic container,"

They turned to see the facility director walk out from among the trees.

"You're the one who resurrected and experimented on Natsu?!" Zeref shouted "I'll happily make you my final victim!"

"You should be thanking me, Mr. Dragneel, I brought your brother back to life!" the facility director mocked "He'd still be dead without me. Now, hand him over so that I may continue my research and find out how he has a limitless IMC,"

Magic Circles appeared at Zeref and Lisanna's hands as they prepared for a fight.

"Stay back, Natsu!" Lisanna said and she pulled off the scarf to give to him "Take care of that. It's precious to me and you both,"

Natsu took it and tied it around his forehead to keep his overgrown hair out of his face.

" _Combustion: Line-Up!_ " Zeref shouted.

He put his hand on the ground and it blew up in a line towards the facility director. He stepped aside and clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"You're rusty, Zeref," he mocked "Now..."

" _Take-Over: Cat Soul!_ " Lisanna yelled.

She sprang forward with her cat-like reflexes and aimed to scratch at the facility director. He grabbed her wrist before she could scratch and grabbed her by the neck. Before Natsu could react, Zeref acted and hit his palm into the facility head's stomach.

" _Combustion: Instantaneous!_ " he shouted " _High Velocity!_ "

A high-powered explosion threw them back. Lisanna and Zeref were thrown to the ground as the facility director was thrown several yards away. Natsu looked around in confusion as he battled with his fight or flight response. He'd grown to like the Fairy Tail mages and didn't want to see them hurt. But if he didn't run, he'd be recaptured. Natsu clenched his fists and slid his knife from his sleeve. Seeing an opportunity, he ran forward with his hand on the back of his knife's hilt for an extra push. At the calculated moment, he stabbed the knife into the facility director's side.

"Brat!" he screamed and swiped at him.

Zeref pushed his brother out of the way and retaliated with another combustion.

"Stay away from my brother!" he shouted "I've gone through 442 years of crap to bring him back so I'm not going to let you torture him any longer!"

Before anything else could happen, hidden mercenaries took the pause in the battle to shoot poisoned darts at them from the bushes. The three wizards hit the ground as the world blurred around them. Natsu clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He knew what was coming... the facility.

* * *

 **!SPOILERS!**

 **If you haven't noticed, I'm actually interpreting multiple elements from the series canon into my story. Since its X792 in my story, I interpreted Lisanna's pigtails and Mavis's Contradictory Curse (didn't see that coming) as well as her relationship with Zeref (oh my). Actually, that Zervis revelation is the reason why I specified that they have no physical ages when they're cursed.**


	9. Chapter 8: The Facility

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 8:

The Facility

* * *

With a foggy mind, Natsu opened his eyes to see a bright light shining directly down on him. He tried to lift his arm to shield his eyes but heard the sound of restraints rattling. His mind cleared and he looked down at his wrist in a cold sweat. There it was... a leather strap tying him down to the stainless steel table. All sense left him and Natsu began violently struggling.

"No, no, no! I can't- can't be here! No!" he exclaimed and began hyperventilating.

Other than the light shining directly on him, there was no other light around, leaving nothing but darkness surrounding him. He pulled at the restraints and screamed for help. He couldn't be back here... He couldn't! His wounds began to open as he struggled but he ignored them. After hyperventilating for about five minutes, Natsu passed out due to insufficient oxygen and his body went limp on the surgery table. Tear lines ran down his cheeks and mixed with his blood.

* * *

Lisanna groggily woke-up to find her wrists chained to the wall behind her. She pulled at them but they remained bolted in place. The room was a dark and damp prison cell with a metal door that only had a narrow window for light. Lisanna turned her head to see Zeref chained up in a similar way. This... was awkward for the most basic reasons. He was her love's brother but she didn't know anything about him. She gulped and looked around for escape.

"Give it up. These restraints cancel out all magic. We're stuck," Zeref said "and they've got Natsu..."

Lisanna felt her heart sink. This was the last thing he deserved. Even if he wasn't mentally the same Natsu to the one she loved, she'd grown attached to him. His worries and fears had calmed when he was with her so some part of him was the same. As Zeref had said, his mind may change but his soul remained the same.

"We can't just give up. We have to save Natsu. If we can't use magic to break out of these chains then we'll just have to think of something else. C'mon, I thought you were a prodigy or something," Lisanna said.

She continued to tug at her restraints and looked around for any way to escape the cell. This damp, dark and cold room was the same as the cell Natsu had described being locked in. If he'd escaped then they could too.

"Three inches..." Zeref suddenly said "I'd say these chains were bolted three inches into the rock..." he leaned round and sniffed the wall "Red dust... this is a very crumbly rock... if we could reach where the chains were bolted in, we could probably dig the bolts out and escape... but our fingernails can't withstand that so... we'd need something like a spoon or butter knife,"

Lisanna looked up at the chains and began to struggle against them. What did she have that she could dig the bolts out with?

"Um... Zeref? I'm gonna try lifting myself up by my chains and since I'm wearing a dress... can you look away?" she asked.

Zeref turned away and she sighed with relief. Lisanna wrapped the chains round her hands and pulled herself up. She walked her feet up the wall as she pulled against the bolts until she was crouching vertically on the wall. She took deep controlled breaths as she reached the limits of her physical strength. With the bolts directly behind her feet, Lisanna began digging her heel into the rock around the square piece of metal the chain was connected to.

"Careful, it'll hurt if you fall," said Zeref.

"Don't look!" Lisanna exclaimed as her dress skirt slipped back to reveal her undergarments.

Zeref looked away again until there was a tremendous crash and he turned around to see Lisanna had fallen down. Her right arm hung limply from the chains and tears escaped from the corners of her shut eyes. She'd obviously dislocated it from falling at such an angle.

"Guess it's my turn to try and get us out," Zeref said and she nodded as she held back tears "Alright, then... plan B..."

* * *

Natsu woozily came to and weakly opened his eyes. He gasped and looked up to see a surgeon with a medical mask over their face. He began struggling against his restraints again and looked around to see doctors prepping surgical equipment. They were getting ready for another experiment.

"Prepare 200 millimeters of Elixir Y for injection," said the head researcher "150 of Elixir X and another 150 of Elixir Z on standby,"

Natsu continued to jerk around when he was pushed down against the stainless steel table. He was held down by the guards as the head researcher neared him with a needle full of blue liquid.

"Stay away from me you jack-ass!" Natsu yelled as he tried to fight against the guards holding him down.

"I preferred it when you couldn't talk," said the head researcher "Activate the recording lacrima,"

He injected Elixir Y into Natsu's side and waited for a reaction. Inky-blackness spread from the injection point and grew across his abdomen. He arched his back as his muscles seized and his eyes widened. Natsu panted as the elixir spread through his system. The researchers stepped back from him to observe the results. He screamed as he was thrown around against his will.

"Administer Elixir X," the head researcher ordered.

A green elixir was injected into Natsu's neck and his head began to spin. Everything around him became blurry and the sounds around him were lost before he could comprehend them. He tried to scream but his throat seemed to dry out and only stuttered gasps came out.

"Elixir Z," the head researcher followed up with.

Elixir Z was red and was injected directly into Natsu's heart. The pain increased 10-fold and he froze with his eyes opened wide. His entire body went numb as he lay limply on the steel table. The pain ripped through Natsu like a cannonball but all he could do was let out tears.

"Utter paralysis," the head researcher said "Take a blood sample, immediately,"

A researcher inserted a needle and pulled back the plunger to remove a sample of his thick murky red blood. Natsu wished he could just scream or pass out or something! Anything...

* * *

"Boss wants you alive so eat up," a guard said.

He held a spoonful of cold porridge out to Zeref and the former Black Wizard leaned out and bit it. The facility guard attempted to pull it from his mouth but Zeref suddenly headbutted him, knocking him out. He then walked himself up the wall high enough to put the spoon right into his hand.

"Nice one... now you can dig the bolts out," Lisanna said, quietly.

Zeref slid back down the wall and began digging at the bolts with the spoon. Red dust sprinkled down and he spat out any that got in his mouth. Lisanna looked up to watch him as he dug around the metal square.

"Don't worry, Lisanna, I'll get you out as soon as I get free," Zeref said.

He shook his head to throw the dust off as it cascaded down on him. He couldn't afford to waste any time. His brother needed help. After 10 minutes of digging, Zeref pulled himself free from the wall and took the keys off the unconscious guard to unlock his shackles. His wrists were rubbed raw with blood dried into the wounds. He went over to Lisanna and unlocked her shackles. She fell to the floor and held her dislocated right arm.

"I can pop your shoulder back in but it'll hurt like heck," Zeref warned.

Lisanna nodded, bit onto her rolled up skirt hem and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Okay... in three, two, one,"

 _CRACK! POP!_

" _OOOWWW!_ "

* * *

Natsu sat curled up in the corner of his new cell. The walls and floor were white with a high ceiling and a bright light that eradicated all shadow. He had an oversized white t-shirt and oversized white trousers that already had red stains seeping in. Natsu lay on the soft ground as he vomited up the foreign elixirs that had been injected into him.

"I'm... never going to be free," he said and curled up tighter.

The thought of Zeref and Lisanna crossed his mind and he sat up. They'd been with him and had been knocked out too. Worried tears began to run down his face and he forced himself to his feet. Natsu went over to the door and began banging on it.

"Hey! Where are my friends? Hey! Answer me! Where are they?" he yelled " _Hey_ _?!_ "

He continued to punch the door as desperation and anger engulfed his mind. His fists picked up speed as he flew into a blind rage and the door was the only thing to take it out on. Natsu felt a burning rip through him and he was sick of all the pain. He wanted this new burning out of him IMMEDIATELY.

With his next punch, flames burst out from his fists and blew the door away. He seethed through his teeth as his fangs grew larger and scales spread across his skin. Natsu let out a blood-curdling roar as fire burst from him.

 _"What is this?"_ he thought _"I can't seem to control my body and... it feels so natural! This new state I'm in... it seems to increase my strength considerably. Wait... I know what this is... yes... I don't know how I know but I do! This is... this is Dragon Force!"_

His mind left his body as he fell into the darkness of his subconscious and he continued on his rampage through the facility. This place caused him pain, that meant he'd destroy it. Simple logic like that was all he could think at the moment.

Natsu set fire to the white cell he was in and proceeded down the hallway, setting fire to it as he went. Every inch of the facility... would BURN!

* * *

Zeref and Lisanna walked through the everlasting corridors of the facility in search of Natsu. Lacrima alarms were sounding with red lights flashing around them. Maybe their escape had been discovered or maybe Natsu was putting up a fight. Probably both...

"Uhh... do you know where we're going?" Lisanna asked.

"Nope, not even a little bit," answered Zeref (at least he was honest) "But this is taking too long. Time to make a shortcut,"

He put his hands together and focused all of his magic power into them.

" _Combustion: Rapid Fire!_ "

Zeref punched the wall and it instantly blew away from his fist upon contact. They stepped through the hole and over the rubble.

"Don't touch my fists for any reason. Until I deactivate Rapid Fire, anything I touch will combust," he warned.

Zeref than ran forward and combusted the next wall down. Lisanna timidly ran after him as he knocked down wall after wall after wall. It became quite repetitive when an explosion to their right threw them. They crashed through the wall only to find themselves falling a thousand feet outside the building.

" _Lisanna!_ Grab my ankle!" Zeref yelled before stabbing his combustible fists into the outer wall.

Lisanna grabbed his ankle and slammed onto the wall as they came to a stop. She looked up to see him hanging onto the crack he'd blown into the wall by his elbows.

"Crud... after 400 years, I've forgotten how to deactivate Rapid Fire," Zeref complained.

"WHAT?! After 400 years, you've forgotten _that?!"_ Lisanna screamed and she looked down to see the chasm that lay below.

" _Just_ kidding! Ha!" the former Black Wizard laughed.

He shook his hands before taking hold of the ledge and pulling himself up before helping her up also. Zeref and Lisanna crouched in the V-shaped and looked up. Their only option was to climb back up until they found a way back inside. As he failed to climb up the steep edges, Lisanna had a better idea.

"Grab onto my waist and no funny business," she said.

Zeref awkwardly did so as she spread out her arms.

" _Take-Over: Harpy Soul!_ "

Her arms turned to wings and she leaned over the edge. Lisanna flapped her wings and flew them out to have a look at the building, her legs tucked into her skirt. A tall grey tower with narrow windows built into the side of the cliff that now featured a scar down the side. Explosions shook the building as fire and smoke burst out.

"Dang, Natsu, what are you _doing_ in there?" Zeref wondered.

Lisanna scanned the exterior of the building for an entrance before flying for it. If the explosions were caused by Natsu then they were in for a bumpy ride...


	10. Chapter 9: Broken

**Manga spoilers ahead... heavy manga spoilers ahead.**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 9:

Broken

* * *

 _"Why? Why is my life like this? When it ends, I'm brought and when I live, it's taken from me. Why must this be my life? Can't I just live my life? Can't I be... normal?"_

 _"Why would you want to be normal?"_

 _"So that I can rest... finally,"_

 _"No... you want to be normal because you're afraid... afraid of being yourself,"_

 _"Afraid? My only fear is continuing this paradoxical existence. I either want to be put to rest and allowed to stay at rest or I want to live and keep living. I can't do that unless I'm normal,"_

 _"Stop lying to yourself. You're afraid of being abnormal. Ever since we were little, we've been strange. We were sick during a time when no one knew what it was or how to treat us. Then we were a demon determined to scorch the earth. After that, we were a Dragon Slayer and a member of Fairy Tail. Then we reverted back to our demon-self. Now we're here and we don't know who we are anymore,"_

 _"We?"_

 _"Natsu... please remember yourself,"_

* * *

Zeref and Lisanna ran towards the chaos in search of Natsu as facility staff members ran away from it. The words "demon" and "monster" were yelled in fear when it was they who had awoken the creature. Zeref combusted open the door and they looked inside to see Natsu standing on the far side of the room with fire encasing him. On the ground before him was the head researcher with the facility director laying on the ground off to the side.

"C-C-Come now, Project 001, you don't want to do this," the head researcher stammered.

"Wait a minute... I recognize that man..." Zeref said, thinking back to the last time "I believe he calls himself... Brain. He caused much pain in this world that I took notice and he's never regretted it,"

Lisanna cried out in horror, " _Natsu!_ "

The enraged Dragon Slayer reeled his fist back as golden flames encased it. Brain cowered on the ground until he felt his alternate self arising. Zero was thirsting for destruction. Natsu roared as he was about to bring the flames onto him when everything suddenly stopped. His joined fists were prevented from striking downwards by Zeref, who had jumped in the way and had grabbed hold. The flames of Dragon Force went out for that moment as he looked to see his brother had taken the force of the blow.

"N-Natsu... you'll regret... taking his life," the former Black Wizard coughed as his brother's strength pushed him into the ground "C'mon, let's go back to Fairy Tail... you've got people waiting for you... Natsu,"

* * *

 _"Zeref..."_

 _"Yes... Big Brother Zef is appealing to us to stop our attack,"_

 _"Attack? Why am I... we... attacking?"_

 _"These people caused us pain. Don't you agree they should pay with pain?"_

 _"No! They'll pay, they'll pay for the rest of their lives in a prison! But pain won't reverse pain... hurting them won't heal us!"_

 _"But this is what we've always done. It's better than running like we have been,"_

 _"We ran because people would have been hurt if we didn't. I don't regret it! And now... now we've got friends,"_

 _"Friends who expect you to be somebody else. They haven't accepted the new you and want your past self back. You're merely a doll, a body for their friend to inhabit,"_

 _"SHUT-UP! Fairy Tail wants to help me remember for me, not for them. I want to remember me for them and not for me. And even if I never regain my memories... I KNOW WE'LL STILL BE FRIENDS!"_

 _"Hmm... speaking in the singular now, I see? Interesting,"_

 _"Who are you?"_

 _"Oh, me? I'm just that little voice in your head that says 'do it',"_

* * *

Seeing the opportunity, Brain placed his hand on the wall and created a Self-Destruction Circle. He'd destroy this building but there were plenty of facility buildings to continue his work in. With his attacker distracted, Brain took the opportunity to slip away undetected. Natsu's fangs were still sharpened and his skin was still covered in scales but as his eyes returned to normal, so did the rest of him. He collapsed forward and Zeref caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Come on, little brother, it's time we get you home," he said, gently.

"Uh... what's that?" Lisanna asked.

Zeref turned around to see the magic circle on the wall. Instantly, he knew what it was.

"We've gotta move, NOW!" he exclaimed and put his arm around his brother to support him.

They started towards the exit when the Self-Destruction Circle activated. In that moment, Natsu summoned his strength and put both Lisanna and Zeref in headlocks. He pushed them to the ground but before they could ask why, the building blew up. The world around them was filled with red and black as bricks crumbled down and the building fell to pieces. Lisanna felt Natsu's arm around her as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart raced as everything began to slow down. She opened her eyes and sat up. Everything around them was decimated except for the area they were laying in.

"Natsu! Zeref!" Lisanna yelled and looked down at the Dragneel brothers beside her "We're... we're alive!"

Zeref sat up and felt his forehead. Blood was running down the side of his head but he ignored it to check his brother. Natsu lay on the ground and they rolled him over onto his back. His wounds were open and fresh injuries leaked his murky red blood.

"Natsu!" Zeref exclaimed "Stupid idiot! What did you do?"

"The area around us... it's undamaged. Natsu... did you protect us?" Lisanna asked.

He remained silent with his eyes half-closed. He clenched his fists and shivered as he gritted his teeth. Natsu groaned as he tried to sit up but dropped back down. His overgrown hair hung in his face and the ash from the explosion was washed away as tears ran from his eyes.

"Natsu?" Zeref asked, gently "You okay? Say something,"

"I- you- here- who- I- where-" he cut off his own sentences "Pain- me- who- where- why- here- how-"

He continued to mutter the beginning of sentences only to forget about them. With broken spirits, Zeref pulled Natsu onto his back to carry and they began heading away from the destroyed facility.

* * *

They walked through the desert land for about seven hours before being found. It took a while for Zeref's tracking lacrima to locate them apparently because of the great distance between it and the receiver. They were treated for their injuries and Zeref was allowed to stay in the same hospital as Natsu until he was fully healed. Natsu on the other hand, was in a far worse state than ever before. He stopped muttering the beginnings of sentences after falling asleep but started again as soon as someone asked him something.

"What is it, Porlyusica?" Lucy asked "What's wrong with him now?"

The Fairy Tail mages stood around Natsu's hospital room as the pink-haired boy lay in bed. They all stared at the medicine woman for an answer but she just looked over medical notes.

"Brain damage... his mind is broken," she said, curtly "It seems he remembers something only to forget it a second later. This is happening with all of his memories so his concept of self is warped. If he remembers something happy, he becomes happy only to forget what made him happy in the first place and then that memory's replaced with something sad, for example, so he becomes sad but doesn't even know what it's like being happy. It's a painful condition that he doesn't even realize he has. He's due for treatment but don't get your hopes up. Pesky humans, always throwing your lives away..."

Porlyusica walked out and left the broken Natsu to his friends.

"If his memories are continuously being remembered and forgotten then his mind is constantly changing too, right?" Gajeel asked.

"Yeah..." sighed Gray.

* * *

 _"Who?"_

 _"Are?"_

 _"You?"_

 _"Who?"_

 _"Are?"_

 _"You?"_

 _"Who?"_

 _"Are?"_

 _"You?"_

* * *

"Who- are- you-" Natsu muttered "Help..."

The Fairy Tail mages looked to him. That was almost a clear sentence. Maybe that meant he was more aware than they thought.

"I- you- where- me- why- how- I-" he continued to stammer.

Tears began to run down his face as he looked up at the ceiling, muttering different things. His black eyes became foggy and his sight blurred. If he was crying then he had to be conscious enough to know the pain he was in but if his mind was too broken for that... his soul. It was his soul that was crying.

Lisanna sat on the edge of the hospital bed and took his hand. His body began jerking around in reaction to her touch but she kept a tight grip on him until he calmed down. Natsu lay on the bed, tears running down his face as his mind continuously changed between memories. Lisanna felt tears pricking her deep blue eyes and she covered her face with her hands. She let out a loud sob and tears began to stream down her face. Mirajane and Elfman went to her side and held her close as she cried.

Seeing Lisanna's broken heart, Juvia took Gray's hand and held onto him tightly. He pulled her into a reassuring hug and held her close. Erza resolved to visit Jellal and begin talking about their wedding arrangements. When somebody loves someone, they shouldn't neglect the time they have with worries and fears. If they loved them, they'd be with them while they could. Lisanna waited to tell Natsu about her feelings and now she'd lost him... again!

Zeref was sat in the windowsill and had witnessed them all. He had bandages around his wrists from the shackles, one around his head, another around his ankle from where the tracking lacrima had rubbed and even more wrapped tightly around his waist. He looked over at his brother with a sad smile.

"They'll be coming back for him," Zeref said, quietly "If they intend to obtain unlimited power then they'll need an unlimited container for it. To gain both, they'll be coming here,"

"Here as in Magnolia? Why?" Lucy asked.

Everyone turned to the former Black Wizard as he turned to look out the window.

"There's only one unlimited power and that's Fairy Heart. They probably plan on destroying her sleeping body to release it. Then they'll need Natsu to contain its power. Those experiments... they were probably hoping either to remove his IMC to make it an _external_ magic container or to figure out how to make their own IMC's limitless," Zeref explained "I figured it all out after the facility building blew and we were walking off,"

Fairy Tail looked away. Makarov had told them the secret of Lumen Histoire and Fairy Heart shortly after the Tartaros War was over following Natsu's death. They didn't know how Mavis's body became Fairy Heart or Zeref's history with her but they knew they couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands (or anyone's hands, for that matter).

"How do you know about Fairy Heart?" Erza asked as her clenched fists shook "Tell us!"

Zeref looked at her with a blank expression before turning away again.

"I had a hand in its creation..." he said "Over one-hundred years ago... I stole Mavis's life,"

* * *

 **You want deets go read chapter 449 of the manga.**


	11. Chapter 10: Lost Memory

**Omega level manga spoilers ahead.**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 10:

Lost Memory

* * *

When Natsu was taken away for treatment, Zeref told the remaining Fairy Tail mages of his past with Mavis. Her spirit appeared itself and confirmed it all. As they waited for Natsu's treatment to be over, she stayed by Zeref's side despite the fact he couldn't hear or see her.

"Zeref... my beloved..." Mavis gently whispered "I wish I could have helped you back then! I wish I had heeded your warning!"

Zeref sighed. He could feel someone next to him but there was no one sitting there. Just the ghost of his former love as she cried for forgiveness. He'd caused so much pain and misery and yet Mavis fell in love with him. She was the first person in those 300 years that had understood him.

"So... that's how Fairy Heart was created," said Erza "By performing the ultimate contradiction, your curses clashed and you took Master Mavis's life,"

"Yes... She was the first life in hundreds of years that I regretted taking," Zeref said "Her magic power, the Curse of Contradictions and Hades' attempts to revive her... it all adds up to be Fairy Heart,"

"So whoever was behind the facility... resurrected Natsu since he was the only one with a limitless magic container to hold Fairy Heart's power," said Gray "They'll try to get both by coming to Magnolia, right?"

"Yes... Mavis's body isn't safe here anymore. She needs to be moved before they attack and so does Natsu as soon as he's recovered," Zeref continued "If anybody were to get their hands on Fairy Heart... good intentions or bad... we'd all pay with our lives,"

Everything fell silent in the hospital room. They were all formulating plans to stop this. But there was one surefire way to prevent anyone from ever obtaining Fairy Heart. Zeref got to his feet and walked out. He needed to talk to Makarov if he were to do this. Mavis followed as she too had come to the same conclusion...

* * *

When Natsu opened his eyes, he moaned and sat up. A group of people stared at him and he jumped back in fright. He wrapped his arms around his narrow frame as he shivered. Natsu didn't say a thing as he didn't remember any words. He was back to being that scared person he was when he was first resurrected. Once again, everything was new.

"Hey, Natsu, how you feeling?" Lucy asked as she sat on the side of the bed.

He crawled backwards away from her and hit the floor with a thud but ignored it and crawled into the corner. They all stared at him with sadness on their faces and Lisanna approached him. She tucked her skirt back and knelt down beside him.

"Your name is Natsu Dragneel and you've had a hard life that's led to this situation. Your mind is broken and we don't know how to fix it. You're probably very confused but rest assured, we'll help you. We'll always help you," she said with a sweet smile on her face.

Natsu looked at her for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Nat-su... Drag-neel?" he said, steadily thinking over each syllable as he spoke "My... na-me is... Na-tsu... Drag-neel?"

"Yes, it is. Very good, Natsu. I'm sure you'll be talking again soon," Lisanna encouraged "And you've got a big brother named Zeref Dragneel,"

"Ze-Zer-Zeref-Zer-ef... Zef- Zef... Drag-neel?" Natsu quietly whispered "My big broth-ther is... Zer-ef Drag-neel,"

They managed to coax him back onto the bed and he sat cross-legged as he ate hospital jelly. For the most part, they taught him their names and words such as "yes" and "no". He happily mimicked them but there was a sinking feeling in the room as to the extent of his memory. For how long could he now remember?

* * *

12 hours, as it turned out. If something happened to him at 9 a.m. then he'd forget about it by 9 p.m. with the exception of if he continuously thought about it throughout those 12 hours. For this reason every hour on the hour, Natsu would sit down and read through a list of important things to remember. And after a week had passed since his treatment, that's what he did.

 _Number 1: my name is Natsu Dragneel and I'm 18-years-old, physically speaking. Number 2: I can only trust the members of Fairy Tail unconditionally. Number 3: I have both anterograde and retrograde amnesia, meaning I can't recall past memories or hold onto new ones for longer than 12 hours._

He closed the little book on the table, leaned back and stretched his arms above his head. It was harder to keep memories in the mornings since he would have lost all memory from the day before by then. According to the tally kept in the front of his little black book, it had been seven days since he'd sustained his head injury. Disheveled, tears came to Natsu's eyes and he cried into his hands. Lisanna sat down beside him and gently rested his head on her shoulder to comfort him. There had been nothing left to do at the hospital so he'd been released into Fairy Tail's care. As for Zeref, he'd disappeared and so had Makarov.

"Alright!" Erza declared across the guild hall "It's been seven days, Zeref and Master have disappeared and Natsu can't remember a thing. The facility will be attacking soon. Without the Master or Zeref, Lumen Histoire is up for the grabs and Natsu doesn't remember how to fight,"

"Zeref and Gramps are probably moving Master Mavis to a safer location," Gray interjected "And since Brain destroyed the facility, what threat so they still hold?"

"You guys found Natsu wondering around all the way in *Minstrel but the facility Lisanna and Zeref were taken to was in West Fiore," Levy interrupted "I... I think there are more than one facility buildings across Ishgar with a countless amount of manpower,"

Everyone continued their "discussion" on the facility threat and Natsu slipped away. He snuck out back to be alone and opened his little black book. Other than his list of important things to remember were seven entries describing his day. The handwriting wasn't his, though. Lisanna had written them while he had dictated what to put although he didn't remember that.

It was peaceful sitting in Fairy Tail's backyard with the ocean view that stretched out for miles. Being there gave Natsu the time and silence he needed to collect his thoughts. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the building as he let his broken mind wander what little consciousness he still had.

 _"Big Brother Zef? Big Brother Ze-ef! Wake-up, Big Brother!"_

 _Natsu shook his brother's shoulder until Zeref groaned and turned around to look at him. He smiled at his baby brother with green eyes tipped with sleep dust. Natsu smiled back at him before he sat up with a stretch of his arms over his head._

 _"What is it, Baby Brother?" Zeref asked._

 _"Papa wants us to col-coll-colle-coll-ect... collect the eggs from the hen house and Mama wants us to- to- water the 'erb garden!" Natsu explained "C'mon, Big Brother! Let's go!"_

He snapped open his eyes with a cold sweat running down his forehead. His memories were still in his head... He just couldn't consciously access them. Natsu was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of rubber rolling across the ground. He looked over and saw adorable little Asuka Connell reaching for a rubber ball. The little girl picked up her toy and shyly walked over to him.

"Hi... Nat-su," she said, looking down at her blue ball "Mama said... your hurt and poorly so we can't play together anymore..."

"I'm... I'm sorry... we can't play to-together," Natsu stammered "But... my memory is broken so I don't know how to play,"

Asuka walked over to him and sat down beside him with her ball on her lap. A wide smile spread across her solemn face and she looked up at him.

"Don't worry, Nat-su! I'll teach!" she said "It's a game I in-ven-ted _all_ _on my own!_ And I made up the rules too!"

"That's impressive, I don't even remember what I had for dinner last night... or before," Natsu said, smiling down at her.

Asuka went into great detail on the rules of "splatball" and he listened closely to her words. He didn't understand the game but hearing words made him feel... relaxed, somehow. Or maybe it was Asuka's cutesy baby voice...

Natsu felt his eyelids growing heavier as he listened to the sounds around him. Asuka talking, the leaves as the wind blew through them, the ocean crashing on the beach, the noises from town and the mumble of voices as Fairy Tail's discussion became more heated. He'd been taught a few exercises for retaining and discovering memories while still in hospital so he rested his head back and let his mind wonder again...

 _What could he see? What could he hear? What was he feeling emotionally? What was he feeling physically? What was it?_

An image began to form in Natsu's mind, slowly coming from the darkness that plagued him. It was... green... a worn out, pale-mint green. And it had red spikes down its back. It was limp with two pads sticking out for wings...

"Draken," Natsu whispered "I wonder what that means..."

Asuka looked up at him with confusion on her face when Erza suddenly crashed through the door. She looked down at them with a frantic look in her eyes as she panted for breath.

"Here *gasp* you are... we were *pant* worried sick!" she gasped "Asuka, your parents down *pant* want you playing out here *gasp* alone! And... Natsu! What if *gasp* the facility came *pant* and kidnapped you... again?!"

Asuka and Natsu looked at each other before smiles came to their faces and they burst out laughing. Erza escorted them back inside and they were reprimanded by the rest of the guild. In that moment, Natsu didn't care that he couldn't remember. As long as his 12 hours of memory was with Fairy Tail, he was happy. But the moment was shattered when there was a gigantic crash and they all rushed outside. On the edge of town, buildings were bursting into flames as people screamed and ran.

The sight of the fire triggered something within Natsu. Flames engulfing a town that had helped him? This had happened before... and it was on him.

"Get Natsu to safety!" Erza suddenly ordered "NOW! The rest of us, deal with the fire and facility mercenaries,"

Her entire being glowed with golden light and her basic armour was replaced with her Sea Empress Armour. Drawing her sword, she sprang into action.

* * *

Gray, Lucy, Happy and Lisanna grabbed Natsu and pulled him along to the outskirts of town. There was an abandoned train track there that they followed along the cost. If they kept heading in this direction, they'd stumble into Lamia Scale in their own hometown eventually. Preparing for a fight, Lucy summoned her Star Dress in Sagittarius Form and held her celestial bow at her side as she ran alongside them. Lisanna remained just behind but found herself having trouble Taking-Over. Her magic had been messed up since the Tartaros War ended but it had been getting better once Natsu returned. Darn it, was his current condition affecting her this way again?

"Crud," she hissed under her breath.

Lisanna held onto the scarf she had retrieved from the facility ruins and tied it around her face to hide her from the nose down. She pulled her hairbands out and her white hair fell down to the bottom of her nape. She couldn't run in her dress for long as it whipped around her knees. Nope, Lisanna needed an outfit change.

" _Take-Over: Cheetah Soul!_ "

Her entire being glowed and in a flash of light, she was running alongside them wearing a cheetah-print outfit along with cheetah ears popping out the top of her head. Two tails grew out from her spine and out the bottom of her skirt. Lisanna's pace quickened and she took her place running beside Natsu. She looked at him and saw the same worried look in his eyes that he had had as a child...

* * *

 ***I've recently learned more about Earthland's geography and found out Minstrel is a country just south/southeast of Fiore. Since I said Natsu was found in a country just south of Fiore, I decided to make it Minstrel.**


	12. Chapter 11: Run

**During the Tartaros Arc, certain members of Fairy Tail gained new powers after stopping Face. However, this is an AU story where they didn't stop Face but they still have those new powers. Explanation? They got stronger during the seven months between story one and story two.**

 **And yeah... I acknowledge E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return has been a bit... everywhere. I could claim artistic symbolism of Natsu's own confusion but that would be a lie. Here's the basic plot so far:**

 **Natsu turns up alive so Fairy Tail go retrieve him. A mysterious facility is after him to use his limitless IMC to contain the unlimited Fairy Heart. To protect him, they stay in the dragons' den and Zeref is brought in to help jog his memory. Both Dragneel brothers plus Lisanna get captured but escape only for Brain to set the facility to self-destruct. Natsu uses all his energy to protect Lisanna and Zeref and receives a severe head wound that caused harsh brain damage. Now Natsu can only remember 12 hours at a time and Zeref has disappeared with Mavis's ghost and Makarov. And the facility has just attacked Magnolia again...**

 **And that's a brief summary :s**

 **Also, I've recently been converted from NaLi to NaLu but I still love NaLi. Once I finish my stories featuring NaLi, I'll be taking a break from Fairy Tail fanfics for a while. First time I've ever multi-shipped before!**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 11:

Run

* * *

Lisanna's sensitive cheetah ears picked up on the high-pitched sound of something whistling through the air. She turned to look only to spot a magical arrow coming their way.

"Lucy, behind us!" she shouted.

The blonde spun around and fired an arrow from Sagittarius's bow without even blinking. Lucy's arrow hit the enemy's right on the tip and split it into two perfectly symmetrical pieces. More arrows came flying their way and she released rapid-fire homing arrows. Despite this, a single arrow managed to escape her counterattack and pierced through Lucy's palm and up her arm. The Star Dress dissolved into her usual clothing as she stammered back, unable to bend her arm as the arrow was pressed against her elbow like a splint.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAOOOOOUUUUUUCCCCHHHHH!" Lucy screamed as she held her arm straight out.

Thinking quickly, Gray broke the arrow ends and slid it out of her arm before freezing the entry and exit wounds for a temporary fix. Another barrage of arrows came into view and they ran off the abandoned train tracks and into the woods adjacent to them for cover. Natsu clutched his little black book closely as adrenalin flooded through him to keep him going. Happy latched onto his back incase he needed to fly him away and held on tightly as he was jerked around.

"It's the dang tracker!" Lisanna yelled "We need it off Natsu before we can escape!"

"It's cut into his skin, though!" Lucy yelled in retaliation.

A shadow loomed over them in the light of the setting sun and two red scarly-arms scooped them up from the ground. Natsu looked up and froze like ice at the sight of a certain Fire Dragon. Igneel seemed to smirk at them before offering words of comfort.

 _"Don't worry, Natsu, I'm here to help. I'm taking you to see Makarov and Zeref. They have a plan you need to hear,"_

* * *

No one said anything as the Fire Dragon flew them towards the rubble of the destroyed facility. A light blue crystal was growing over the broken pieces of the building. In the middle of the one clear area where Natsu had protected Lisanna and Zeref was a lacrima crystal with Makarov and the former Black Wizard standing before it. Surrounding them were the other dragons, their scales illuminated by the glowing crystal. Igneel landed with a quake and put the humans he'd grabbed back on the ground.

" _Natsu!_ "

The pink-haired boy looked up to see Zeref approaching them with a relieved smile. Unaware this was his brother, Natsu hid behind Lisanna with fear in his eyes. His older brother came to a stop with an understanding smile on his face and sadness in his eyes.

"What's going on, Zeref?" Gray asked "Where'd you disappear off to with Gramps? And why the heck are the dragons here?!"

"Master Makarov, Mavis and I formulated a plan so that no one can ever abuse the power of Fairy Heart. It's risky and it may take lives but in exchange, infinite power will be beyond the world's grasp once again... and Natsu should be safe," Zeref answered.

"What's this plan of yours?" Lucy asked, the adrenalin racing through her system dulling the pain her arm was in.

"Take a look around you..."

With these few words, the group took a closer look at their surroundings. The blue crystal covering the ground looked like the ethernano the Tower of Heaven was constructed of and the lacrima crystal in the center... had a body in it. Gray stared, Lucy covered her mouth and Lisanna hid Natsu from the sight. It was Master Mavis entombed in lacrima, preserving the last of her life.

"Even though I promised never to do this again... I have to. Reviving Mavis is the only way to destroy Fairy Heart. Once she's conscious, she can dispel it," Zeref explained "A side affect is that she may lose her memory of her time as a ghost and her memories of her past life. It's the same thing that happened with Natsu..."

"But... I thought it took years of construction and billions of sacrifices to revive someone..." Gray asked in disbelief.

"Normally, yes but I'm using the power of Fairy Heart to speed up the process," Zeref continued "It'll still take an unimaginable amount of magic power to start the process that I can't siphon from Mavis which is why the dragons are all here. Their Dragon Roars might just be enough power to start up the revival process,"

Lucy, Gray, Lisanna and Natsu stayed out of the way as the resurrection procedure preparations were complete. Zeref hand-carved the magic runes into the ethernano before stepping back. Each dragon took a deep breath as they waited for the signal from the ex-Black Wizard.

"Now! Fire!"

" _Sky Dragon-_ "

" _Iron Dragon-_ "

" _White Dragon-_ "

" _Shadow Dragon-_ "

" _Fire Dragon-_ "

 _"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!"_

* * *

 **I'm sorry for not updating but I had writer's block and then... my grandmother passed away. She was always supportive of my writing and she never got to read my manuscript. She was in a lot of pain so I can take comfort in the fact she's free from that... but I am totally ticked off by the crap hospital that- you know what? I'm just going to say... do _not_ trust Spanish healthcare.**


	13. Chapter 12: Unbridaled Holy Light

**Btw, this is still a NaLi fic. With all the crap they've been through together in this timeline, I'm not gonna break them up.**

 **Also, I appreciate you giving me your condolences for my grandma but I don't like people trying to speak for her. Saying my grandmother would surely be proud of me for updating? What the hey-hey?! That's not something you banter about.**

* * *

E.N.D. Rises: Natsu's Return

Chapter 12:

Unbridled Holy Light

* * *

A rainbow blaze of colours erupted like a fountain as the Dragon Roars convened on Mavis's lacrima tomb. Natsu stared into the flames as the different elements melted together into ethereal harmony. He looked to the others and they too were awestruck by it. The last time a blaze like this was seen was when Natsu had used his power to restore Fiore after Tartaros had wrecked it. He looked to Lisanna and saw the wind had pulled her pigtails out, her short hair whipping around her as she stared in amazement.

Like a drop of water hitting the surface of a silent pool, his mind clicked into place and he took her hand. The Take-Over Mage turned back to look at him to see the crystal clear tears running down his face. His ragged pink hair whipped around his face but she could still see the renewed glint in his dark eyes. The wind was too strong to hear anything but Lisanna could tell what he said before he smiled.

 _"Lisanna..."_

The dragons forced their souls into their roars as Mavis's lacrima began to glow like a new star. The hurricane of magical power pierced the sky, shooting for the cosmos. All of Fiore... no... all of _Ishgar_ from the southernmost countries to the northernmost, turned their heads to witness the magical occurrence.

Zeref could tell he was crying but the wind pulled his tears away from his eyes before they could run down his face. In the center of the brilliant light was the silhouette of his past love as the form began to move for the first time in almost 100 years. Her name was on the tip of his tongue when the Dragon Roars suddenly gained a-hundred times more power.

Gravity was negated as the humans present felt themselves be pulled from the ground. Gray quickly made an Ice-Make: Pick Axe and stabbed it into the ground. He held the handle by one hand, holding onto Lucy's with the other as she in turn held onto Lisanna's. Lisanna held Natsu's hand in her iron grip as she felt him slipping away. She looked back only to see him gazing into the abyss of ethereal energy as if in a trance.

" _Natsu!_ Natsu, snap OUT of it!" she screamed as the pull became even stronger.

Zeref had his hand holding onto a devout in the ground made by his Combustion Magic with Master Makarov locked under his arm. He tried to stay standing but the magical force was just so strong. His feet were pulled out from under him and Zeref smashed into the ground, Makarov under his arm as he held onto the small edge.

Mavis's spirit looked into the light at her body as it began to curl up into the fetal position. Her ghostly hair whipped around her as she began taking steps closer to the cyclone of cosmic energy. She could feel herself disappearing as her soul was being drawn back into her body, proving that pre and post-resurrection didn't change one's soul.

In that moment, the heavenly light exploded all around into falling lights. Their heartbeats filled their ears at the sudden stop when there was a thud as the dragons collapsed. Before they could turn to check on each other, a new brilliant holy light took over their vision with the silhouette of the first guild master in the center. Gazing into the light, Natsu got to his feet and began walking towards the center of the event. As he walked out of view, a light not unlike an etherion blast shot into the sky. A strange dark essence seemed to float out and Zeref shivered at its similarity to the Contradictory Curse he was once under.

The awe-inspiring lights flickered like a lightbulb going out before disappearing. Only a dim glow was left that showed Mavis floating downwards into Natsu's arms. She looked the same but seemed different... older, somehow. A pure white dress covered her and the light began to flicker out again. Natsu turned towards his brother as the final ethereal event reached its conclusion and he began walking towards him with Mavis's limp body in his arms. Cautiously, he handed her over to Zeref and he quickly listened for her heartbeat. The quiet thuds made him gulp down sobs and tears ran down his face.

It was unbelievable. Mavis Vermilion, Fairy Tail's founder and first master, was alive once more and it seemed she was free from the Curse of Contradictions. Zeref fell to his knees with her in his arms and he cried out her name. Watching earnestly, Lisanna looked at Natsu who had a dark expression on his face. The gravity of the things that just transpired suddenly kicked in and they all began to ache as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

"We've got work to do..." Natsu said, gravelly.

* * *

Erza received a finishing blow to the back of the head and she fell to the ground. Jellal screamed for her as he struggled against his restraints. Every mage in Magnolia was down and beaten on the ground. But despite their injuries, they all had the same question on their minds: what was that light?

"Capture Fairy Heart and Natsu Dragneel, at once!" Brain ordered "Finally... the time has come..."

The ripple of crackling flames drifted through the air and caught their attention for just a moment. In that moment, Natsu came shooting down from the sky with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist ready and he punched the flames at Brain. The ground erupted around him and the cheeky smirk on his face told it all. Fairy Tail cried in joy as the glint of familiarity shimmered in Natsu's eyes.

"You should probably know... that Fairy Heart doesn't _exist_ anymore," he said "It went shooting into the air and was dispelled,"

"Impossible..." Brain hissed "Fairy Heart is limitless! How could it be destroyed?!"

"I didn't say it was _destroyed_ , dumbass," Natsu retorted with his arms crossed "I said it no longer existed and if you don't believe me... ask her,"

He jabbed his thumb behind himself and his group came walking into view. In Zeref's arms was a conscious Mavis, who didn't have the strength to walk after a century-long slumber. However, despite her weakness she slipped out of Zeref's arms and shakily walked over to Brain. She stared up at him with tired eyes before speaking.

"Fairy Heart... doesn't exist anymore... you have no reason... to continue this attack... or to hunt down Natsu... you should leave,"

A dark expression crossed Brain's face and he lifted his hand. In an instant, Mavis was thrown aside by an iron backhand at lightning speed.

" _Mavis!_ "

Zeref ran to her side and cautiously helped her to sit up. She weakly fell into him and he lifted her up in his arms again. They looked to Brain as he seemed to change into an all new form. Zero. With a snap of his fingers, the surrounding area erupted and everyone was thrown back. Zeref held Mavis tightly in his arms as she clung to him. Natsu remained rooted in place with his clenched fists at his sides. A fire sparked in his eyes and he smiled, his fangs glistening.

"Watch it... that's my brother and his girlfriend you just attacked... and you dragged my guild into it..." he hissed "And if there's one thing I remember... it's that _no one_ messes with Fairy Tail!"

With that he sprang forward and flames encased his fist before he punched Zero right in the face.

* * *

 **I just realized just how short the previous chapter was so... sorry. At least I got something out, right?**

 **Oh, and if anyone here is a fan of Mashima's other work, Rave Master, then please check out my new fanfic, Rave Mistress. And no, it's not a genderswap.**


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